Race to the Edge 5
by Edelweiss Dragonborn
Summary: Next season
1. Living in the Edge

Race to the Edge 5

Living on the Edge

One night three months since Viggo's defeat, the volcano on Dragon's Edge rumbled restlessly. It spat smoke and a few sparks into the night sky. It kept many of the riders and dragons awake. The whole island shook violently. The riders were all in their huts, and the dragons, minus Toothless, were in their stalls. Tenor was sleeping beside his rider in the stables, while his comrades were sleeping closer to the volcano's rim.

While the other Draconians had flown home, including Serenity's guardian dragon Ruby, Re and his comrades remained on Dragon's Edge because: Re wanted to study a live volcano for the first time in his life, Tenor wanted to hang out with the riders more, and so Serenity could heal and recuperate after being shot with dragonroot arrows and crashing the airship.

She had spent the first two months on Eruptadon Island so Queen Mala could patch her up. Having so much dragonroot for so long had made Serenity very sick and crippled. The dragonroot had damaged the nerves in her legs, making her unable to walk. When she was feeling better, the Draconians brought her back to the Edge, where she now slept in the stables with the dragons. She could only walk a few feet with a cane, and she could still ride a dragon. Aurora could foresee that she would be able to walk normally again, but couldn't foresee when.

The volcano rumbled again so hard that everyone was tossed out of bed. Serenity landed beside Tenor lifted his head.

"You okay?" he asked. Serenity sat up and leaned against his side.

"I'm fine," she said. "That volcano sure has the attitude of a dragon."

"I should go check on the others," Tenor said. "You need help getting back into bed?" Serenity nodded. Tenor helped her get back in her bed, since her legs couldn't hold her weight yet. When she was back in bed Tenor flew outside.

He spotted Astrid and Hiccup outside Hiccup's house. They looked worried. Tenor flew down and hovered over them.

"Tenor, we have to stop the lava," Hiccup said. Tenor looked to see a huge lava flow pouring out of smaller vents on the side of the main volcano. It was getting dangerously close to the outpost.

"How can I help?" he asked.

"We need to get the Gronkle Iron over those vents," Hiccup said. Tenor nodded.

The riders gathered on the runway with iron buckets filled with hot Gronkle Iron. Re had given them a lot of tips for keeping the lava off their huts. One of his suggestions was blocking the vents closest to the outpost with Gronkle Iron. So the riders flew over those vents with the buckets of iron, Tenor held one in his talons. They separated and dumped the iron right over the vents, blocking the lava. The volcano seemed to growl in protest. They all met back up over the last vent. They were just about to block it when the vent spat out a small lava bomb. It hit Snotlout on he helmet, making him fall sideways off Hookfang. As usual Hookfang did nothing.

"Char roasted Snotlout," laughed Ruffnut.

"It'll give him the smoky taste," said Tuffnut, sneering. Hiccup glared at them.

"Guys! Do something!" he ordered. Both Twins pouted.

"Uh, buzz kill," said Tuffnut bitterly. The Twins steered their Zippleback after Snotlout. Barf and Belch caught him in their talons and set him down on the runway. The rest of the riders closed off the last of the vents.

The riders gathered back at the stables as the sun came up. Tenor went into the stables to help Serenity get out of bed and into her chair. The riders looked over any damages.

"This is a disaster," said Astrid. Snotlout got to his feet.

"You happy now Hiccup?" he snapped.

"What!?" asked Hiccup, confused.

"I said we should have left this place months ago," said Snotlout. "But no, you wanted to keep exploring." No one spoke for a few seconds, then Astrid looked at Hiccup.

"You know I'd rather plant dragonroot under my fingernails than agree with Snotlout," she said. "But he maybe right."

"That was a bit specific," Tenor said, looking amused. Astrid ignored him and continued.

"Viggo and Ryker are gone, the Dragon Eye's destroyed," she said. "Even mother nature is telling us to go." She put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "We've won, we can go home." Hiccup said nothing, but looked sad.

Later that day Hiccup flew Toothless around the island. The island was lit up by the lava flow. He spotted Re on the rim of the volcano. Hiccup flew Toothless down and landed beside him. Re was in a special suit he'd made for himself out of shedded Eruptadon scales and Gronkle Iron. He put thick Death Song amber over the suit's eye sockets on the metal dragon head-shaped helmet. He made the suit so he could study the volcano, without having to worry about the heat of the magma.

Re glanced up when Toothless landed beside him.

"Hey Re," Hiccup said. Re looked at him through the amber goggles on his helmet.

"Hi Hiccup," he said, his voice very echoey.

"We got the vents blocked off," Hiccup said. "But the lava is still out of control."

"Let it flow," Re said. "It's making the island bigger. It just has to be diverted from the outpost."

"Well, Astrid has suggested we leave the Edge," Hiccup said. He couldn't see Re's expression, the amber goggles were a bit foggy from the smoke.

"I take it you don't," he said.

"Well, it's become too dangerous because of the lava," Hiccup said. "But I want to keep exploring and finding new dragon species." Re removed his helmet and set it down.

"The Defenders of the Wing also live next to an active volcano," he reminded Hiccup.

"They have two Eruptadons," Hiccup pointed out.

"Ah, true," Re said. "So what are you going to do?"

"I think it is time to go back to Berk," Hiccup said. "We can always come back and visit when the volcano quiets down." Re glanced down into the lake of magma.

"This volcano isn't going to sleep anytime soon," he said. "It's still quite young, and has a lot of magma in its system."

"Will you be coming with us?" Hiccup asked.

"Nope," Re said. "This could be my only opportunity to study a live volcano up close."

"Why do you want to study it?" Hiccup asked.

"I've never been so close to such a young volcano," Re said. "Plus this volcano did me a solid." His face grew solemn.

"You're talking about Viggo," Hiccup said. "I wish you hadn't pushed him in."

"I did what I had to," Re said. "I can no longer sit and wait for you while hundreds of innocent dragons were being killed." He picked up his helmet. "I only regret not doing it earlier." He put his helmet back on, and took off.

Hiccup flew back down to the other riders and informed them that thew would return to Berk. They all seemed pleased with this decision. The Twins were all ready selling off their furniture. Tenor was torn between staying and returning to Draconia.

"So when do we leave?" asked Snotlout.

"When the volcano is stabilized," said Hiccup. "And we have to find homes for all the dragons we relocated here." Just then there came a horn blast from the docks.

"What's Trader Johann doing here?" asked Astrid. Hiccup didn't answer. He got on Toothless and flew down to meet Johann, who approached with a box under one arm.

"Master Hiccup, I've brought the items you asked for," he said, handing Hiccup the box. Hiccup opened it, and Tenor caught a glimpse of what was inside.

"Thank you Johann," he said.

"Though I do wonder what your intentions are with such an interesting array of articles," Johann said, curiously. Hiccup didn't answer. Tenor took off and went to check on his rider.

He found Serenity in her chair, not doing anything.

"How are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm okay," Serenity said. "I'm enjoying the quiet."

"Oh, good," Tenor said. "Well, Hiccup plans to head back to Berk as soon as the volcano is taken care of."

"Isn't that Re's job," Serenity asked.

"He'll help out for sure," Tenor said. "You think you can make it all the way back to Berk?" Serenity sighed.

"I think so," she said. Tenor handed her her water canteen and she drank from it. "I want to try walking to the end of the runway."

"Okay," Tenor said. Serenity put the canteen on her bed where she could reach it and picked up her cane. She used it to heave herself to her feet. She hobbled towards the runway, leaning on the cane which had four legs on the end for better support. Tenor stayed close to her, in case she fell. She only got a few feet before her legs gave out and she stumbled right onto Tenor's strong neck.

"That was a bit better than yesterday," he said. He helped her back to her chair. She sat down and drank more water. "Mala said it would take a while before your legs regain their strength."

"I know," Serenity said. She hugged his head. Just then Hiccup, Fishlegs, and their dragons came into the stables.

"Hey Tenor," said Fishlegs. "We're going to see what we can do about the volcano. We'd appreciate your help, Re's coming to help us as well." Tenor nodded and looked at Serenity again.

"You going to be okay?" he asked her.

"I'll be fine," Serenity said.

"Aurora will be in later," Tenor said. He followed the riders outside.

They went up to Hiccup's forge where they began brainstorming while they waited for Re. Toothless and Meatlug play wrestled to kill time.

"We need something that will not only withstand the intense heat of the lava," said Hiccup.

"But will also stand up to volcanic pressure," Fishlegs finished. Suddenly the two wrestling dragons knocked into Hiccup's work bench, knocking things off of it.

"Pick that up," Hiccup ordered. Toothless picked up Hiccup's welding goggles and tossed them in the direction of the work bench but they landed on Meatlug's face. Both Hiccup and Fishlegs found it amusing, but then it gave Hiccup an idea.

"You might be on to something," he told Meatlug, taking the goggles. "Fishlegs what if we mixed Gronckle Iron with Death Song amber?"

"You mean the very same Death Song amber that stood up against extreme water pressure hundreds of feet below the water?" said Fishlegs.

"That's the one," Hiccup said.

"Mixing the exact quantities of ingredients will be key," said Fishlegs. "So it doesn't set off any negative chemical reactions." Just then Re arrived still wearing his volcano suit. Hiccup and Fishlegs told him their idea.

"That could work," Re said, his voice echoing inside his helmet. "But Death Song amber explodes under high temperatures."

"We have to find the right amount," Fishlegs said. "Will you help us." Re and Tenor looked at each other, and both nodded.

They got right to work. Tenor collected a few pieces of Death Song amber in various sizes, while Hiccup and Fishlegs filled a cauldron with heated Gronkle Iron. They asked Re to put the amber into the cauldron since his volcano suit could withstand the explosions. He put a small piece of amber into the cauldron. But it exploded under the high temperature, splashing hot metal everywhere. Re's volcano suit did it's job, and the dragons protected their riders with their fire proof wings. When the explosion stopped Re tried the experiment again with a slightly larger piece of amber. The same thing happened. The third time Re did with a much large piece of amber, the cauldron shook violently, but there was no explosion. The riders and dragons smiled with satisfaction.

"Thanks Re," Hiccup said. "Can you carry this to a vent?"

"Yup," Re said. Hiccup and Fishlegs got on their dragons and took off. Re grasped the cauldron in his talons, which were protected by a heat proof gauntlet. He and Tenor took off after the riders.

They all met up at the closest vent. Re landed and approached the vent, which was smoking. He carefully poured the Gronkle Iron-Death Song amber mixture over the vent. At once the mixture hardened and clocked up the vent. Re set the cauldron down and took off his helmet.

"It worked!" said Hiccup.

"But that was the last of the Death Song amber," said Fishlegs. "And even if we found more, there's no way Meatlug can make enough Gronkle Iron to cover the whole island."

"So we need Death Song amber, and we need Gronkles," said Hiccup. "Well we know where to get both." This made the riders nervous.

"There's no way I'm going to Melody Island," said Snotlout. "The word death is in the dragon's name for a very good reason."

"Astrid, Tenor, and I will get the amber," said Hiccup. "Fishlegs you gather all the ingredients for Gronkle Iron, and find a place to hold all the metal." Fishlegs nodded. "Ruff, Tuff, you'll be bringing Gronkles from Dark Deep, and Snotlout you're going with them." This made all three of them pout. Hiccup then looked at Tenor.

"Can Serenity ride?" he asked.

"She can ride, she just can't walk very well," Tenor said.

"You think she can come with us to Melody Island?" asked Hiccup. "In case we run into a Death Song."

"I'll go get her," Tenor said. "I'm sure she'd love to come." He took off and headed for the stables. Hiccup and Astrid mounted their dragons and followed him.

They landed on the runway as Tenor was laying down so Serenity could mount him. When she was settled he got to his feet again. The medical bag was already on the back of the saddle.

"Thanks for coming Serenity," Hiccup said.

"I might slow you down," Serenity said. "Just a heads up." The dragons spread their wings and took off, heading for Melody Island. Serenity was happy to be in saddle again.

They got to Melody Island and found plenty of amber. They landed at the base of a cliff. Hiccup and Astrid dismounted, but Serenity stayed in the saddle. They glanced around, finding plenty of amber, but no Death Song.

"That's strange," said Hiccup.

"I don't hear anything," said Astrid.

"No Death Song," said Hiccup. But no sooner had he said that, the air filled with the familiar siren call. Suddenly an adult Death Song reared up, roaring and flaring his butterfly wings.

"You were saying," said Astid as she and Hiccup drew their weapons.

"Guys don't," Serenity cried. "He's hurt." Hiccup and Astrid looked at the Death Song again. Sure enough the dragon had terrible gashes all over his body, and dragonroot arrows sticking out of his back. He swayed on the spot and collapsed at their feet. Hiccup put down Inferno and approached the Death Song. He patted the dragon's nose horn. The Death Song moaned.

"These wounds are fresh," Hiccup said. "Astrid this brutal. Serenity can you help him?"

"Yes I can," Serenity said. Tenor approached the Death Song and knelt down. Serenity got off his back. She hobbled over to the Death Song, leaning on her cane. Tenor set her bag beside the wild dragon. Serenity care fully stroked the Death Song's neck. She pulled out her stethoscope and listened to the dragon's heartbeat and breathing. Tenor pulled out Serenity's spare folding chair and set it down beside her, so she could sit down while she worked.

"His breathing's pretty labored," she said. "But his heart sounds fine. He's probably in shock." Just then the Death Song, who had recognized these humans, sang a few notes that were familiar to them to let them know who he was. Both Hiccup and Astrid recognized the song at once.

"Wait, is that Garff?" Hiccup asked. Astrid put a hand over her mouth in surprise.

"Oh my goodness it is," she said. "Oooh, you poor thing." She sounded close to tears. "But where's the other Death Song?"

"He must not have been as lucky as this guy," said Hiccup. Just then he noticed that Garff and Serenity were talking in dragontongue. "What's he saying?"

"He says they were attacked by dragon hunters," Serenity said. "He and Swallowtail tried to fight them but Garff was too inexperienced and was at the risk of losing. So Swallowtail told him to run and hide, and Garff doesn't know what happened to him." Garff moaned again.

"But if Viggo's gone," said Astrid.

"Who's leading these dragon hunters?" said Hiccup. "And what's so important that they'd go toe to toe with a Death Song."

While Astrid and Serenity attended to Garff, Hiccup and the remaining dragons gathered up all the pieces of amber scattered on the ground. Serenity patched up the Death Song's wounds. However Garff still looked sad and very weak.

"Will he be okay?" Astrid asked Serenity.

"It's too early to tell," Serenity said. "We'll see if he survives the night." Hiccup came over then all the amber was collected.

"You think he'll make it?" he asked.

"We'll see," Serenity said. "I'll stay here and fix him."

"I'll stay behind too," Astrid volunteered. Both Serenity and Hiccup were surprised at this.

"Are you sure?" Serenity said.

"Yes, I mean you can barely walk Serenity," said Astrid. She looked at Hiccup. "Hiccup we can't loose the Edge. If those hunters are still out there, we have to stop them before they can do this to anymore dragons." She patted Garff on the snout. Toothless looked down at Garff, his eyes sad.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he said, nuzzling Garff. The Death Song smiled weakly.

"Thank Draco you guys came," he whispered. "Will you stay? I don't want to be alone."

"Hiccup and I must get back to the Edge," Toothless said. "We have a volcano to deal with."

"Astrid and I will stay though," said Stormfly. "We'll help you."

"Thanks," Garff said. He closed his eyes. Toothless, Stormfly, and Tenor threw back their heads and cried a preyer to Lord Draco, asking him to heal their friend. Hiccup hugged Astrid, and kissed her cheek. He then got on Toothless.

"You should go too Tenor," Serenity said. "You can send Aurora back here." Tenor nodded. The two nightly dragons took off and headed back to the Edge. Astrid sat beside Garff's head and spoke to him softly and gave him water while Serenity addressed his wounds. Stormfly helped her walk when needed.

"It's good to see you again Garff," Stormfly whispered. "You've gotten so big."

"It's good to see you too Stormfly," said Garff. "You look well."

"Last time we saw you, you were barely out of the egg," Stormfly said.

"I remember that," said Garff. "I still remember all the songs those humans sang to me. Swallowtail didn't like songs made by humans at first, but he grew to like them after a while." He glanced around the area. "Where's that other female human, with the Razorwhip."

"At home," said Stromfly. "On her own island."

"Oh," said Garff sadly. "She was so nice to me, and I liked that song she sang me."

"It was very beautiful," said Stormfly.

"You think I'll see her again?" Garff asked. Stormfly looked doubtful.

"You'll have to survive this first," she said. Garff took a deep breath.

"This human of yours is pretty nice too though," he said. "I had no idea humans could be so kind, after what just happened to me and Swallowtail."

"You must miss him," said Stormfly. Garff nodded.

"I owe him my life," he said. "As much as I do to you and your humans."

"We'll always be there for you Garff," said Stormfly. "You can count on us." She nuzzled him carefully, Garff nuzzled her back.

Astrid watched the two dragons talking to each other. Serenity was half way done with patching up Garff.

"What are they talking about?" Astrid asked.

"They're catching up," Serenity said, clipping threads. "Garff misses Heather."

"I'm sure he does," Astrid said. "I miss her too." Serenity stroked Garff's side.

"How are you feeling Garff?" she asked. Garff looked at her.

"A bit better, thank you," he said. "I'm sorry you got hurt too." Serenity looked at Astrid.

"I think he'll be just fine now," she said. "I sense a strong friendship between him and Stormfly."

"Really?" said Astrid, hopeful.

"Yeah," said Serenity. "Never underestimate the power of love, I've seen it do miraculous things."

"I bet he's glade you're here," said Astrid.

"He's glad we're all here," said Serenity. "He doesn't want to be alone." Astrid patted Garff on his nose horn. Stormfly laid down beside Garff and let him lay his head on her shoulder. He closed his eyes and dozed off.

Hiccup and the two nightly dragons returned to the Edge to find Fishlegs and the Twins filling up Ruff and Tuff's boar pit with heated Gronkle Iron(which the Twins were not happy about) with the help of the Gronkles from Dark Deep. Hiccup landed beside Fishlegs and Tenor hovered over the boar pit.

"Where's Astrid?" asked Fishlegs.

"Melody Island," said Hiccup. "I'll explain later." He glanced around. "Where's Snotlout?"

"Dark Deep," said Tuffnut.

"We'll explain later," said Ruffnut. They got right to work making Gronkle Iron-Death Song amber mixture. When that was done they filled the metal buckets with the mixture. They went from vent to vent blocking them. Tenor informed Aurora where Serenity was. The Queen agreed to go get her. She flew off as Re joined the group and helped with blocking the vent.

"You should know," Re said. "With all these vents being blocked off, the main crater will over flow and lava will come out that way."

"We'll worry about that later," said Hiccup. Just then a vent right near the main crater exploded. They headed up to it. Lava was gushing out of the vent and splashing everywhere. It was more intense then the others.

"It's too intense," said Fishlegs. Re took a filled metal bucket and dived towards the vent. He dumped the mixture over the vent blocking it, lava splashed onto his volcano suit, but he hardly noticed. When the lava was all blocked the riders and dragons landed.

"Good job guys," said Hiccup. But suddenly the ground shook violently, and rocks tumbled down the slop, right on top of the wild Gronkles.

"Oh no the Gronkles!" exclaimed Fishlegs. They quickly began digging the Gronkles out. They heard a loud roar from above. They all looked to see Snotlout and Hookfang speeding towards them with three enormous Quakens on their tail. They flew over, Snotlout steered Hookfang out of the way. The Quakens were about to attack, but then they spotted the lava pouring out of the volcano. They looked at each other.

"The lava's going to burn our Gronkles," said one of them. "We should do something."

"We should open up a new path for it," said another. "Come on." The three of them went to the other side of the volcano, rolled to balls, and slammed into the rocks. A hole was blasted into the side of the mountain, and lava came pouring out of the mountain. This caused the flow of lava heading for the trapped Gronkles to stop. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The Quakens landed beside the others.

"Thanks Quakens," Re said, removing his helmet.

"It's just another dragon your majesty," said one of the Quakens. "No different from the rest of us." Re nodded in agreement. They all dug the Gronkles out, and they turned out to be unharmed. The Quakens took off and their Gronkles followed them, back towards Dark Deep.

The next day; Astrid, Serenity, and Aurora came back with Garff flying beside them. They all landed in the arena. Astrid dismounted but Serenity stayed in the saddle. Hiccup was overjoyed to see them. Garff pranced about, vary happy to be alive. He and Stormfly chased each other around the arena.

"I can't believe Garff made it," said Hiccup.

"Yeah, Serenity really know's her stuff," said Astrid. "She fixed him up good as new." Garff pranced over to Serenity and nuzzled her happily.

"Thank you Serenity," he cried. "Thanks for all your help." Serenity hugged him back, smiling.

"You're welcome Garff," she said. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I hope you make a full recovery too," Garff said.

"She will," Aurora said. "You can be sure of that." Garff licked Serenity's cheek, then stood back up.

"Queen Aurora," he said respectfully, as he turned back to Stormfly. Hiccup turned to address the riders and dragons.

"Listen up gang," he said. "The dragon hunters are still out there. I know you all want to go home but..."

"Who said I wanted to go home," Fishlegs interrupted. "I don't want to go home." All the other riders agreed, Snotlout more reluctantly.

"I want to stay too," Tenor said. "I must admit, I like hanging out with you guys." Hiccup looked over at Re and Aurora.

"What about you guys?" he asked. Re and Aurora looked at each other.

"We will do what we must," Re said. Aurora nodded in agreement. The riders and dragons began repairing their outpost, and Serenity went back to her chair. They were ready for the battles to come.


	2. Sandbusted

Sandbusted

Tenor was flying around the outpost, stretching his wings. He spotted Hiccup outside his house looking at something. Curiosity got the better of him and he landed on the porch.

"What are you looking at?" he asked. Hiccup suddenly blushed.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said. Tenor looked at Toothless who just shrugged. Tenor looked over Hiccup's shoulder. He was holding a rusty looking medallion with an abstract design on it.

"Where did you get that?" Tenor asked. "Looks very old."

"My dad gave it to me," Hiccup answered. "It's my betrothal gift to Astrid. It means we'll be together forever." Tenor's face dropped slightly.

"I see," he said. "I take it, this is supposed to be a surprise."

"Yes it is," said Hiccup. "So don't tell her."

"Fine," Tenor said. He turned to leave. "I won't tell her." He spread his wings and took off.

"Where are you going?" Hiccup asked. Tenor turned in the air.

"This is new territory for me," he said. "I wouldn't be much help." He flew away before Hiccup could say anymore.

He flew onward, and suddenly heard Astrid roar in frustration. He swooped down and landed on the porch. Stromfly was outside, listening to Astrid throw things around.

"Hey Tenor," she said.

"She loose her ax again?" Tenor asked.

"No, she's looking for something to give to Hiccup," said Stormfly. "As a mating gift I think."

"Oh," Tenor said. "It's probably very selfish of me to say but, I wish they were as lonely as me."

"That is selfish," said Stormfly. "I know you're lonely, but doesn't mean you have to keep others from finding their soulmate."

"Sorry," Tenor said. He hung his head.

"Maybe you can help Astrid find something," Stormfly said. "Maybe helping these two will help you feel better."

"I don't want it to hurt," Tenor said. "I find jealousy to be very painful."

"You'll be fine," said Stromfly. "You can always step out if it gets too hard for you." Tenor took a huge, deep breath.

"All right," he said. He entered the house, right as Fishlegs arrived. They saw Astrid digging frantically through her house, creating a mess. She noticed Tenor and Fishlegs standing in her doorway.

"Unless this is about Hiccup's betrothal gift, the one I haven't gotten him yet, the one where I have no idea where to start...!" Astrid said, panicking.

"You're getting him one too?" Tenor asked, pretending he hadn't discussed it with Stormfly.

"Not if I don't find something," said Astrid.

"So does that mean you two plan to make it official?" Tenor asked.

"The ceremonial betrothal gift must be exchanged six moon cycles after a couple's," said Fishlegs.

"Betrothal?" Astrid finished.

"Yes," said Fishlegs.

"Who knows Hiccup better than I do?" said Fishlegs.

"Me," said Astrid.

"Good point," said Fishlegs, talking very fast. "And we both know what a great gift giver he his."

"Yes, that's the problem," said Astrid. "Hiccup is not your ordinary Viking; he has a Night Fury, he can fly with suit made of yak hyde, he has a sword that can ignite on command, and he's going to be the next chief of Berk." She put her face in her hands.

"What about a new notebook," Tenor suggested. "He uses those."

"He has plenty of notebooks," said Astird. "He has a lot charcoal pens too."

"A new saddle," Tenor said. "Toothless will eventually grow out of that one."

"I don't know how to make a saddle," said Astrid. "And I can't sing, so your exchanging songs won't work either."

"Oh my," Tenor said. Just then Hiccup poked his head through the doorway.

"Hey guys, I just got a T-mail from Trader Johann," he said. "And it doesn't sound good."

"Yeah, they never do," said Tenor.

The riders met up in the clubhouse.

"All it said was that it was urgent and to come immediately," said Hiccup.

"And I'm guessing you sent him a big old, NO THANK YOU!" shouted Snotlout.

"Why would I do that?" asked Hiccup.

"That guy is bad luck Hiccup," said Snotlout. "Last time we got a message from old TJ, we almost got killed by a pack of wild and very angry dragons."

"Okay Snotlout, you can stay here," said Hiccup. Snotlout refused outright.

They all headed down to the stables and saddled their dragons. Tenor decided to bring Serenity along as well. Incase of injuries or wild dragons. She was walking more and her legs were getting stronger again. Re and Aurora decided to tag along as well. As they were getting ready, Hiccup looked over at Astrid, who was tightening Stormfly's girth.

"Hey Astrid, can we talk for a moment?" Hiccup asked. Astrid had a suspicion on what he wanted to talk about.

"Ahh, let's not keep Trader Johann waiting," she said, bashfully. She quickly got on Stormfly and took off. The other riders followed suit.

As they headed for the Northern Markets, Hiccup tried to pull Toothless alongside Stormfly but Astrid kept steering her out of the way. They almost knocked Tenor out of the sky.

"Can you keep Stormfly still for a few minuets?" asked Hiccup.

"Sorry, she's fighsty today," Astrid lied. "She must be excited to see Johann, she really likes him." Stormfly squawked in confusion.

"Is that true?" Tenor asked her.

"No," said Stormfly. "Trader Johann has brought us nothing but bad luck. Every time we come to his aid, we end in trouble. Something feels wrong about him. Our riders may trust him, but I don't."

"Hmm," Tenor said. "I thought I was the only one who noticed."

"You got that vibe too?" asked Stormfly.

"Yeah," Tenor said. "I didn't say anything, because what if I was wrong."

"You think our riders should be warned?" asked Stormfly.

"No," Tenor said. "Humans need solid evidence before they'll believe anything, I mean Hiccup didn't believe Snotlout just now."

"You make a good point," said Stormfly. "We should keep our guard up anyway." Tenor nodded. "I wonder what trouble we're going to get into this time."

"Well, it's the Northern Markets," Tenor said. "There will be something."

"And you're bringing Serenity along?" said Stormfly. "She won't be safe there." Tenor glanced over to Serenity, who was mounted on Re's back, wearing the black suit, hood and mask that Queen Mala had given her to hide her identify. Stormfly looked at her as well.

"Oh, I see," she said.

"She's required to wear that whenever we go to places with a lot of humans," Tenor said. "She can only talk in dragontongue, and can never show her face."

"Will that work?" asked Stormfly.

"Aurora predicts that it will," Tenor said. "Plus it's just as dangerous to leave her on the Edge."

"Why don't you just send her home," asked Stormfly.

"We want to," Tenor said. "But then things keep happening around here that acquire her assistance."

"I see," said Stormfly. At that moment they arrived at the Northern Markets. The dragons landed in the main street and all the riders, minus Serenity, dismounted. They wandered through the market, which was strangely quieter than normal. They found Trader Johann's booth. He informed them that many of the merchants and their possessions had all vanished.

"You seem fine Johann, was anything of yours stolen?" asked Hiccup.

"Hiccup, leave it to you to find the silver lining in the darkest cloud," said Johann. Tenor narrowed his eyes at this connivance.

"Hiccup I have an idea of what happened," said Fishlegs.

"What's that Fishlegs?" asked Hiccup.

"The Curse of Tears," said Fishlegs. For some reason this made Tuffnut to start weeping very loudly. They all looked at the Twins.

"It's that word," Ruffnut explained. "Makes him open up like a water spout, ever since we were kids." Fishlegs continued.

"Anyway," he said. "If The Curse exists, many traveling merchants have fallen victims to it and vanished, never to be seen again." Hiccup considered.

"We need to split up and check the island," he said. Fishlegs turned to Astrid.

"How about you team up with me Astrid," he suggested. "What better place to find a gift for the viking who has everything."

"Good idea Fishlegs," said Astrid. Astrid, Fishlegs, the Twins, their dragons, Re, and Aurora went one way; and Hiccup, Snotlout, their dragons, Tenor, and Serenity when another way.

They all looked around the market, looking for anything helpful. Serenity stayed in Tenor's saddle, so she didn't have to walk. She didn't say a word and kept her face covered.

"Okay, if this curse is real," said Hiccup. "Then where did it start? Who's curse is it? Are you even listening to me Snotlout?" He turned around to see Snotlout holding Hiccup's betrothal gift. "Where did you get that?"

"From your saddlebag," said Snotlout, sneering. "You should be more careful."

"Will you give me that?" Hiccup demanded. He tried snatching it, but Snotlout dodged him.

"You know what this needs?" he said.

"To be out of your grubby hands," said Hiccup.

"No, a chain," said Snotlout. "Then Astrid can wear the stupid thing. Other than that it's just an anchor for a very tiny boat." He turned to face Hiccup, when a man ran passed and grabbed the medallion. Hiccup glared at Snotlout.

"I'm guessing you want that back," Snotlout said. They immediately ran after the man. Tenor spread his wings and took off, following the man from above.

They chased the thief all through out the market. But soon they lost sight of him. Hiccup scanned the area franticly. Just then Tenor hovered over him.

"I see where he's going," he said. "Come up here we can get him faster." Hiccup and Snotlout got on their dragons and took off. They sped after the thief who ran into the woods. Hiccup steered Toothless below the trees, where they could keep the thief in their sight. Unfortunately Toothless couldn't turn as quickly at the thief. Soon they saw the thief run into a clearing that led to a beach. Toothless thrust his wings back and sped up. The dragons sped into the clearing only to find, nothing. The dragons landed and all the riders dismounted, Serenity included. They looked around, but all the say was one set of footprints that stopped at the edge of the beach. Serenity limped over to a rock and sat down. Hiccup spotted what looked glass shards on the sand.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said. Suddenly Snotlout felt something strong and thick wrap around his body and yank him into the ground. Hiccup quickly grabbed him, but was pulled down too. Acting quickly both Toothless and Tenor grabbed each of Hiccup's legs. But Toothless had grabbed Hiccup's leg, and it popped off leaving him back on the surface with Serenity and Hookfang. Tenor was dragged underground with Hiccup and Snotlout.

Toothless sat on the sand, stunned, with Hiccup's metal leg clamped in his jaws. Hookfang roared and tried digging through the sand.

"What do we do now?" he asked. Toothless tired to calm down.

"We should go get the others," he said. Toothless let Serenity mount him and they hurried back to the market.

Tenor hit the bottom of a large underground cave, hard on his back. He felt his right wing pop out of its socket, he hissed in pain and rolled onto his front. He then got to his feet and tried to move his wing, but every attempt was met with agonizing pain. He looked around the cave. It was filled with treasure, and human bones. The creature that had pulled them under was nowhere in sight. He spotted Hiccup and Snotlout passed out on the floor. He went up and revived them. Snotlout saw the treasure, and went insane. Hiccup sat up.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Who cares!" exclaimed Snotlout. "Look around you." He looked around at all the items scattered around the cave. Tenor helped Hiccup get to his remaining foot. Hiccup accidentally leaned on Tenor's injured wing.

"Owowowow!" Tenor howled. Hiccup instantly let go.

"Oh sorry Tenor," he said. "What happened to your wing?"

"Dislocated," Tenor said. "Unfortunately I can't fly you guys out, sorry."

"It's okay," Hiccup said. "We can find another way out." They looked to see Snotlout digging through the treasure. But then he spotted the human bones, and it snapped him back to reality.

"What is with these bones?" he snapped. "They're ruining my treasure pleasures." He got winey.

"Snotlout it's not your treasure," said Hiccup, leaning on Tenor's uninjured wing. "And from the looks of things, having it didn't help these guys much. We need to find a way out of here, or all the treasure in the world won't help us. Now first thing's first, I need to find something to replace my leg." He started glancing around.

"Oh, a leg you say," said Snotlout mischievously. "I've got just the thing." He pushed Hiccup down and grabbed a skeleton leg. He tied it to Hiccup's stump. Hiccup saw it and gave Snotlout a funny look.

"Trust me, he won't miss it," said Snotlout. Hiccup got up and put weight on the leg, and it held. Though Hiccup found it disrespectful, and creepy, he decided that now was not the time to be picky.

"I guess I can live with that," he said. He looked at Tenor. "We should find something to support that wing." He began looking around the cave. Among the treasure and bones were what appeared to be splashes of solid glass.

"This stuff is everywhere," said Hiccup.

"Yeah, no kidding," said Snotlout pointing at the ceiling. Hiccup and Tenor looked up to see holes patched up with more glass. Tenor went to shoot a plasma blast at the biggest hole, but realized he was out.

"It thought you couldnt' run out of shots," said Snotlout.

"I'm half Night Fury," Tenor said. "And they do run out of shots. I may have more shots than Toothless does, but I can still run out."

Meanwhile, the rest of the riders and Draconians continued to help Astrid find a gift for Hiccup. She was having no luck.

"Let's face it Fishlegs," she said. "There is nothing I can get Hiccup Haddock that he already has, doesn't want, or doesn't need."

"You know when Aurora and I got, as you humans say it, betrothed," Re said. "I couldn't think of anything to get her either. She's the daughter of our god, and she has so many rare antiques."

"What did she get you?" asked Astrid. Re reached into a hidden pocket in his breast plate and pulled out a smooth black stone the size of Tiny Terror's skull, with a hear-shaped sapphire embedded into the center.

"She knows I love volcanoes," Re said. "So she found this hunk of dried lava, and had it smoothed down and polished. I carry it with me everywhere I go, and there's a space for it on my throne." Astrid looked at it.

"It's beautiful," she said. "So what did you end up giving her." Re put the lava stone back in his pocket.

"I gave her, me," he said. "I promised her I'd be there for her whenever she needed me." Aurora smiled and nuzzled his shoulder. Just then Toothless and Hookfang landed beside them. Aurora looked her mate with soft, silver eyes.

"You know you did give me something," she said. Re gave a sad sigh.

"Yeah I did," he said. "But then I lost it, to the ocean." Aurora nibbled him behind his horns.

"I'm still very happy I got to keep it," she said. "And now I have another on to look after." Astrid ran up to them.

"Guys, Hiccup and Snotlout have disappeared," she said. "We have to go find them." Re and Aurora nodded. Serenity got off Toothless and got on Aurora. They set off to where the two dragons had last seen their riders.

Back in the tunnel, Hiccup and Snotlout were trying to climb the wall towards the hole. Tenor had tried to climb the wall as well, but his claws couldn't grip the smooth walls. Suddenly the two riders fell back to the ground. Snotlout landed on some glass and broke it.

"Ow," he hissed. "If you break this stuff it's really sharp."

"So don't break it," said Hiccup.

"Little late for that," said Snotlout. They both got to their feet. Suddenly they heard someone approaching. Tenor went into a defensive crouch. Hiccup picked up two crossbows and handed one to Snotlout. Tenor ran into the shadows where the intruder wouldn't see him. Suddenly the thief came around the corner with his ax raised.

"You!?" said Hiccup.

"You!?" said the thief. Both he and Snotlout raised their weapons to strike.

"Put those down," Hiccup said. "If we have any chance of getting out of here, we have to work together." Both Snotlout and the thief lowered their weapons. Tenor came out of hiding and circled the thief, growling menacingly.

"Don't kill him Tenor," Hiccup said.

"Oh, I won't kill him," Tenor said. "Just scare him a little." He gnashed his black teeth in the thief's face. Then he spotted the rusty medallion in the thief's belt. "And I'll take this off him." He snatched the medallion and clutched it in his talons. Hiccup seemed relieved.

"Will you hold on to that Tenor?" he asked. Tenor flipped the medallion over each of his bear-sized claws, back and forth.

"You can count on me," he said. He tucked the medallion into his breast plate. "Dragons are professional treasure protecters."

Up on top the others were examining the patch of sand where Hiccup and Snotlout were last seen. Unfortunately neither rider were anywhere in sight. Astrid noticed that both Toothless and Hookfang were scratching franticly at the ground, as though they were trying to dig through the sand. Astrid went over to Toothless and put an arm around his neck.

"What is it Toothless?" she asked, but Toothless only crooned nervously. Astrid looked over at Re. "Why are they pawing at the ground." Re shrugged.

"All they're saying is that their riders just vanished before their eyes," he said. "Like the ground had eaten them."

"I don't understand," said Astrid. "What do you mean the ground had eaten them?"

"Uh, Astrid," said Fishlegs. They all looked to see him holding up Hiccup's metal leg. But before Astrid could grab it, Tuffnut snatched it. He saw Astrid glaring him.

"What?" he asked. "Hiccup wilded it to me. He said if anything happened to him, it should be trusted to one Tuffnut Thorston." Astrid fumed and snatched the metal leg out of Tuff's hands. Tuffnut tried to snatch it back.

"Oh, you want it?" Astrid snarled. "Say you want it. Go on say it. Or should I say; tears, tears, tears," This made Tuffnut drop to the ground and sob. Re and Aurora exchanged a glance. Aurora, who had Serenity on her back, went up behind Astrid and Serenity snatched the metal leg out of her hands.

"Show a little sensitivity Astrid," Aurora said. Astrid shook herself as Ruffnut knelt down beside Tuffnut.

"I'm sorry Tuffnut," said Astrid. "I don't know what came over me."

"How about we look at our new map?" Ruffnut suggested to Tuffnut, who nodded with his thumb in his mouth.

"What map?" asked Fishlegs. Ruffnut pulled out a map that one of the merchants had shown them while they had been investigating the market. The merchant had said the map lead to a hidden treasure, known as the Treasure of Tears.

"You bought that?" asked Astrid.

"Not like we had a choice," said Ruffnut. "It has our two favorite words outside of, well, words. Treasure, and you know." Astrid took the map and unrolled it.

"Well, I don't know what else to do," she said. "Might as well give this a try."

Down below; Hiccup, Snotlout, Tenor, and the thief explored every inch of the cave. Unfortunately they found no way out.

"Well, nothing but dead ends," said Hiccup. "Looks like we're not getting out of here anytime soon."

"Just great," said Snotlout. "I'm finally rich and I don't get to live to enjoy my vast fortune. Thanks to Amis the Lamest here."

"What!?" said Amis. "If you hadn't chased me we wouldn't be down here."

"Well if you hadn't stolen from me we wouldn't have chased you," said Hiccup. Tenor rolled his eyes.

"So I guess that makes us even," said Amis, folding his arms.

"No, that makes us in no way even!" Hiccup shouted.

"Oh, will you guys shut up?" Tenor said, irritated. Just then a dragon bigger than Tenor burst through the walls, snarling. It looked like a giant Tiny Terror. When he saw the humans he roared and shot heated glass at them, making them all scatter. Ignoring the pain in his wing, Tenor tackled the bigger dragon, being careful not bite him with his poisonous teeth. The bigger dragon shot more heated glass at Tenor, but he dodged them. The large dragon pounced on Tenor, but missed, and almost hit Snotlout. Snotlout jumped out of the way, and landed on a pile of items. He nudged a crossbow which fired an arrow through one of the glass-covered holes in the ceiling. Sunlight streamed though the hole, and hit the bigger dragon right on the back. He roared in pain and dived though another wall. Tenor got to his feet, supporting his injured wing. The three humans regrouped.

"Did you guys see that?" said Snotlout, still clutching the crossbow.

"It's the sunlight," said Hiccup. "He can't be in direct sunlight."

"That must be why he patches holes in the roof," said Amis.

"Yeah, nice going Snotlout," Snotlout bragged, shouldering the crossbow.

"And I kept him off you guys," Tenor said, also feeling unappreciated.

"Shut up you two," said Amis. Both Snotlout and Tenor exchanged scowls. Snotlout slumped against Tenor's good wing.

"That was a very impressive shot," Tenor said..

"And good job fighting that thing with an injured wing," said Snotlout, giving Tenor a friendly punch on the shoulder.

Outside Astrid and the others were following the map though the woods. Re and Aurora followed quietly. Toothless stayed beside Astrid, he kept wining out of worry. Then Astrid spotted land mark that matched the one on the map. She hurried towards it.

Hiccup heard the sound of a dragon coming through the hole in the roof.

"Do you hear that?" he asked. Tenor twitched his ears. Hiccup ran towards the hole. "Guys lift me up, if some one's out there we need to make sure they see us." Both Amis and Snotlout got on Tenor's back, and boosted Hiccup towards the hole.

Astrid found the hole, not knowing what it was. Both she and Toothless looked at it, expecting to find Hiccup.

"Is there something in there?" asked Fishlegs.

"Is anyone out there?" asked Snotlout. Both Hiccup and Astrid looked at the hole, having no idea they were looking right at each other.

"No," said Astrid.

"No," said Hiccup.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones fooled by this map," said Astrid.

While Snotlout and Amis rummaged through the items, and Tenor kept a lookout for the other dragon, Hiccup just stood there looking up at the hole.

"You know just looking at that thing won't suddenly help us get out of here," said Snotlout.

"You have a better idea for when that sand busting thing comes back?" asked Hiccup, annoyed.

"Sandbuster," said Snotlout. "It's a good name."

"I'll second that," Tenor said.

"Oh, you couldn't have been sucked down with your dragons could you?" said Amis bitterly. "Could have flown right out of here."

"Why do you even talk?" asked Snotlout.

"It's how I work though things," said Amis. "I'm going to die down here, with freedom just beyond that hole."

"The hole, yes," said Hiccup, looking at it. "That's our way out." Amis laughed humorlessly.

"And how do you plan on getting to it?" he asked.

"Yeah the idiot does have a point, we can't even get to it," Snotlout muttered.

"Then we'll bring it to us," said Hiccup. "You guys stack up all this stuff, make a tower good and sturdy."

"It'll never hold, and it'll never work," said Amis.

"Oh, just do it," said Hiccup.

"What are you going to do?" asked Snotlout.

"I'm going to make a cage for the Sandbuster," said Hiccup. "Tenor, you keep watching for it." Tenor nodded. Everyone got right to work.

Outside, Astrid was sitting on the edge of the cliff studying the map. The Twins and the dragons were moseying about. Fishlegs approached Astrid.

"He's out there Astrid," he said softly. "And we'll get him back. Meatlug and I won't rest until we do." Astrid gave him a small smile, without taking her eyes off the map. She did a double take and jumped to her feet.

"Fishlegs look," she said, showing him the map. "This helmet looks like that mountain peak." She pointed to a picture of a helmet, then pointed to a distant mountain that had a similar shape. "And these axes line up too." She pointed to two crossed axes that marked the spot where a pair of crossed pine trees were. She followed the map and both landscapes. Her finger ended up pointing to a patch of sand in the distance. "Come on we're going to get Hiccup." She rant towards Toothless.

Down in the cave Snotlout and Amis finished stacking all the boxes and other items into a tall tower. Hiccup was finishing up his trap for the Sandbuster.

"I thought you were making a cage," said Snotlout.

"I am indeed," said Hiccup.

"Don't cages involve bars, locks, and walls?" asked Snotlout.

"Trust me this will work," said Hiccup. "Is that tower finished."

"Yes it is," Snotlout said.

"Did you make sure it was sturdy?" asked Hiccup. Snotlout nodded. Hiccup started climbing up the tower, which wobbled. The Sandbuster burst into the cave roaring. Before Tenor could fight it again, Hiccup leaped onto a catapult he'd made. A rock was launched at the holes. He jumped onto the other catapults, trapping the Sandbuster in a cage of sunlight.

"Impressive," said Tenor.

"And now for our escape," said Hiccup. The three humans climbed up the tower. Tenor kept watching the Sandbuster while he waited for his turn. However, the Sandbuster blocked the holes with heated glass. He was now able to pounce on the tower, toppling it. Tenor tackled the Sandbuster. Hiccup's medallion fell out of Tenor's pocket and landed between the Sandbuster's legs, who looked down at it.

"Hey don't you touch that it is a gift," said Hiccup.

"Oh, I'm sure he really cares about that," said Snotlout. The humans scattered as Tenor continued to fight the Sandbuster. Snotlout grabbed a sword and tired fighting with it, but found it way too big and heavy. Tenor eventually managed to pin the Sandbuster down, just as the air filled with a Night Furies whistle. A plasma blast shot though the glass, and the other riders and dragons came charging in. Toothless, with Astrid on his back, helped Tenor fight the Sandbuster. The wild dragon eventually gave up and burst through the wall. Hiccup, Snotlout, Amis, and Tenor were flown outside. Tenor grabbed the medallion on his way out.

When they landed back at the market, they all took a moment to catch their breath. Hiccup turned to Tenor.

"Thanks for your help in there," he said. "I'm sorry your wing's hurt."

"It's fine," Tenor said. He then handed Hiccup the medallion.

"Why what happened to your wing?" asked Aurora.

"I dislocated it," Tenor said. "It really hurts."

"Lay down I'll fix it," Re said. Tenor obeyed, though nervously, with his injured wing spread out on the ground. Re grabbed the wing and Tenor's shoulder. With a few quick movements, Re popped Tenor's wing back into its socket. Tenor roared in pain and tensed. After a few moment the pain subsided and Tenor could move his wing again.

"Thanks Re," he said, folding both his wings.

Hiccup turned to Astrid.

"Hey Astrid," he began, but Astrid tried to leave.

"Uh, I need to to check on Stormfly," she said awkwardly. Hiccup grabbed her arm.

"No, you don't," he said, as she faced him again. "You need to stand there and take this in." He pulled out the medallion, which he'd put on a leather string making it a pendant. "This was my father's betrothal gift to my mother." He put it around her neck. "He gave it to me, to give to you. Astrid you're apart of our family now, you always have. And I hope you'll always will bet." Astrid didn't smile, she just looked uncomfortable.

"Thing is Hiccup, I didn't get you a gift," she said sadly.

"But you did," Hiccup assured her. "Astrid, you being with me, right here, right now. Is the only gift I need." He threw his arms around her, and hugged her tight. Astrid remembered Re saying he'd promised Aurora he'd always be there for her when she need him. Astrid felt compelled to do the same for Hiccup. She hugged him back happily. They separated after a few moments and turned to the sound of Snotlout swinging about the heavy sword he'd brought up from the cave. He gave it one powerful swing and it slipped out of his hands. Hiccup pulled Astrid out of the way moments before it stabbed the ground where she was standing. They both looked at it, recognizing it.

"I thought I knew that sword," Hiccup said. "It's not just any old sword, it's..."

"Viggo's," said Astrid with a sense of foreboding. "But if Viggo's sword is here."

"Who brought it here?" Hiccup asked darkly.

While they thought this over, the riders mounted their dragons and took off, taking Viggo's sword with them. They headed back to the Edge.


	3. Something Rotten on Berserker Ialend

Something Rotten on Berserker Island

The riders and Draconian were heading towards Berserker Island. Dagur had invited them to some sort of apprentice graduation ceremony. The riders were excited to be invited to Berserker Island, since this was their first every visit. The Draconians were looking forward to it as well. They had decided to bring Serenity along as well. She still wore her Defender uniform. Though Re and his comrades trusted Dagur and Heather, they didn't trust the other Berserkers. Serenity rode on Tenor's back.

"Oh, I'm so excited to see where where Heather comes from," said Fishlegs excitedly.

"And Dagur," said Hiccup. "You know they say you can learn a lot about a person based on their place of origin."

"I believe that," Re said. "It's the same with our kind too."

Soon they saw their destination ahead. Re pulled up beside Tenor.

"Remember Serenity don't talk unless we say it's okay," he said.

"Yes sir," Serenity said. She made sure her face was well covered. The dragons all headed for a sea stack that served as a landing strip. All the riders got off, except for Serenity. They made their way towards the entrance to the island. Re suddenly noticed that Aurora seemed on high alert.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Aurora said. "There's something here, something very powerful."

"Should we be worried?" asked Re.

"No," said Aurora. "I sense no threat, just a lot of power." They approached a very tired looking guard. Aurora kept her senses alerted. As they entered the island they spotted Dagur and Heather flying towards them; Heather on Windshear, and Dagur on Sleuther. They landed and smiled warmly at their guests. When they dismounted Astrid hugged Heather.

"I hope you had no trouble getting here," said Dagur.

"Nope, easy flight," said Hiccup happily. Heather looked over at Serenity, who still hadn't moved.

"Why are you still keeping your face covered?" she asked. "You're perfectly safe here."

"Can't be too careful," Tenor explained. "You and your brother we trust, but we don't know which one of your soldiers has a slippery tongue."

"I'm not allowed to show my face unless Re deems it safe enough," Serenity said so softly that the guard at the gate couldn't hear her. "I don't want to get hurt or captured." Dagur came over then.

"Hey Tenor, hey Serenity," he said.

"Hello Dagur," Serenity said, keeping her voice very quiet. "Good to see you."

"Come, we'll show you around," said Dagur. The riders all got back on their dragons and took off.

Dagur lead them on a scenic flight over his island, showing them everything. The Berkians and Draconians liked what they saw. Hiccup suddenly spotted a familiar outcast down below.

"Hey Dagur," he called. "Is that Savage?" The other riders looked down. It was indeed Savage talking to a few Berserkers.

"Yup," said Dagur. "I got the band back together."

"I thought I smelled scum," Tenor said, darkly. Serenity shivered. She didn't like the expression no Savage's face. They continued towards the village's plaza. But when they approached it, all the dragons suddenly stopped and squirmed in discomfort. Even the Draconians looked like something was bothering them.

"What's going on?" asked Hiccup.

"We've been having the same problem," said Dagur.

"Apparently our dragons have had some trouble adjusting," said Heather. "We've had to put the stables way up there." She pointed to their stables, which was was high on a cliff and looked somewhat familiar.

"Hey, those look very spaciously familiar," said Astrid.

"We may have borrowed the design from you guys," said Dagur. They flew up and landed beside the stales. At once the dragons relaxed.

"They seem okay now," said Hiccup. "Do you guys know what caused this?" He looked at Re and Aurora.

"There is a presence here," said Aurora. "Very powerful."

"What presence?" asked Heather nervously. "You mean like a ghost?"

"No," said Aurora. "This is way too powerful to be a ghost."

"Should we be concerned?" asked Heather.

"No," said Aurora. "Whatever this is, it's powerful but not evil. It's not even painful, just really strong. It feels like being submerged in water. I felt it when we first landed here, but the entity feels strongest over the village. The dragons won't go near it. It feels weakest here, that's why they're normal now."

"What do you think it is?" asked Astrid.

"Well, the last time I've felt a power like this, was when I last saw Lord Draco," said Aurora.

"What are you suggesting?" asked Dagur. "That your god is on this island somewhere?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Aurora said. "But it could be him, or one of his soldiers. I wouldn't be concerned though. Whatever this is, like I said, is not evil."

"So Dagur, what's with this Berserker Apprenticeship Program?" asked Snotlout. "Why would you want to be a Berserker apprentice?" Dagur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's not just an apprentice," he said. "It's the apprentice. We've looked for months for the braves, smartest, and craziest vikings in and out of the Archipelago."

"You did?" said Snotlout.

"Yup, and who would have known that he was in our neighbor's backyard this whole time."

"Do we know him?" asked Snotlout.

"Do you know him!?" Dagur repeated. He then looked towards the entrance to the stables. "Come on out boy!" And out came Gustav and Fanghook. Everyone was surprised with this. Gustave looked extremely smug and proud. He jumped of Fanghook and joined the other riders.

"Turns out some people find value in me," said Gustav. "And the qualities I bring to an apprentice program." While Dagur and Gustave praised Gustav, Serenity turned to Re.

"I really don't want to go down there," she whispered. "Those Berserkers scare me, as does that Savage." Re looked over at Aurora.

"We don't feel comfortable leaving you up here without us," said Re said.

"It'll be okay Re," Aurora said. "I can foresee that she will be safer up here. The other dragons will have to stay up here as well, the entity here won't allow them to get any closer to the village."

"All right," Re said. "But you must stay inside the stables where the dragons are."

"Yes sir," said Serenity. Suddenly a boulder fell of a higher peak and tumbled down right towards Dagur. Snotlout ran and pushed bot Dagur and Gustav out of the way. The boulder rolled harmlessly passed.

"Boulder!" cried Gustav.

"Oh, way to keep a sharp eye out Gustav," Dagur praised, though Tenor heard a very tiny hint of sarcasm. Snotlout scowled as Gustav led the riders down towards the village. Snotlout turned to Tenor.

"They didn't even notice me," he said.

"Yeah, I've gone unnoticed my entire life," Tenor said. "Hurts doesn't it?" Snotlout grumbled in agreement. They followed the others, leaving the Berkian dragons in the stables with Serenity.

The dragons settled down in their stalls. Serenity sat in a corner.

"Feels like being back at the Edge," said Hookfang.

"Yeah it does," said Windshear. "But it feels so much warmer with you guys in here." Toothless looked over at Serenity.

"Why don't you come sit next to me," he said. "You'll be more comfortable." Serenity got up and sat beside the Night Fury.

"You don't want to go the ceremony?" asked Stormfly. "I'm sure no one will hurt you."

"I don't want to take the chance," Serenity said. Then Hookfang changed the subject.

"What do you guys think is keeping us from landing in the village?" he asked.

"We don't know," said Sleuther. "But it does keep the village safe from wild dragons."

"I haven't felt power like that since the days of the Red Death," said Meatlug.

"You think it could be another Red Death?" asked Fanghook. "Hidden on the island somewhere."

"Where would a dragon that size hide?" asked Sleuther. "I've seen the caves here, and none of them are big enough for a Red Death."

"There might be one underwater," said Toothless said. "Though that would be useless to a Red Death." Just then a canister was thrown into the stables and the cap popped off. The space was filled with a purple gas. Serenity and all the dragons passed out as the big doors were closed and locked.

After a tour of the Berserker village, everyone gathered in the arena where everyone sat on benches facing a high platform. Re and Aurora sat on the outer rim of the arena, and Tenor sat beside Snotlout. Dagur roared at everyone to get their attention. He then began a speech. Tenor zoned out, since he always had problems listening to any speech. He watched the two Berserker guards on either end of the platform. He suddenly saw them nod at each other and move towards Dagur. Tenor jumped to his feet and snarled. Dagur paused but was not quick enough to turn around, before the two guards grabbed him and pushed him down on his knees. Everyone was confused. But then Savage strode onto the platform and glared down at Dagur.

"Savage, what are you doing?" Dagur asked.

"What I should have done a long time ago," said Savage. "I'm taking over." He glared down at the other riders. "Seize them." At once more Berserkers moved in on the riders. Tenor and Heather were the quickest to act. They fought the Berserkers, allowing the riders to escape. Re and Aurora joined the fight. They didn't kill any of the Berserkers, since they were still Dagur's and Heather's soldiers. But they did knock out many of them. Once riders successfully escaped, Heather jumped onto Tenor's back and made her escape. Re and Aurora followed from the air, leaving Dagur at the mercy of Savage.

"Hey how come you're not effected by the island?" Heather asked Tenor as he galloped after the riders.

"Ask me later," Tenor said. "Right now we have to find the other riders." He ran faster.

The riders ran though the woods, calling for their dragons. Unfortunately all their dragons were still locked in the stables, unconscious. This confused the riders.

"Why won't they come?" asked Fishlegs.

"They must be locked in the stables," said Hiccup.

"What about Dagur?" asked Gustav, coming to a stop.

"What's wrong Gustav? Lost without your hero?" mocked Snotlout. The other riders stopped as well.

"We need our dragons," said Astrid.

"She's right," said Hiccup. He then spotted Heather riding Tenor through the woods. He waved at them and they ran over. Heather pulled Tenor to a brief stop.

"Follow me," she said. She then steered Tenor in a different direction. The riders followed them into a hidden cave. Once everyone was safely out of sight Heather entered and dismounted. They all went quiet for a few minuets, Tenor watched the entrance.

"A cue, really?" Heather whispered, dumfounded.

"We need to act fast," said Hiccup. "Heather, Astrid, Fishlegs, and I will go get the dragons. Snotlout you and Gustav see if you can find Savage and Dagur."

"He'll probably be in a cell," said Heather. "The quickest way is through the maze of caves under the island."

"How come I don't know about those?" asked Gustav.

"It's probably a need to know thing, that you don't need to know," said Snotlout.

"I'll go with you Snotlout," Tenor offered. "You'll need my sonar." Snotlout nodded.

"It's right through there," Heather pointed to a tunnel at the back of the cave. "There won'e be much space for flying." Snotlout and Gustave got on Tenor's back and headed into the cave. The others went back out and headed for the stables.

Tenor went through the tunnel, using his sonar to see where he was going. Snotlout held a torch in one hand, and Tenor's saddle in the other.

"So Gustav, how'd you really get into this Berserker apprenticeship?" Snotlout asked.

"Well Dagur obviously saw something in me that you didn't," boasted Gustav. He jumped off Tenor's saddle and struck different posses. "Bravery, loyalty, we got to really know each other when he captured me and Fanghook." Snotlout spun Tenor around.

"Which is exactly why I don't get it," he said. "Everyone who meets you want to kill you."

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree," said Gustav. He continued onward. Tenor followed him, with Snotlout still on his saddle. They soon reached the end of the tunnel. They were now facing an enormous cavern, with no visible floor or ceiling. The cavern was filled with colossal spikes of green ice. Tenor growled in discomfort.

"Ahh, my head," he moaned. He shook his head and regained focused. Snotlout pulled Gustav back onto the saddle. Tenor then spread his wings and flew across the cavern. He spotted the rest of the tunnel and landed on the ledge. He folded his wings and went down the tunnel.

Meanwhile the other riders had reached the stables. They looked down at it from a tall hill. Re and Aurora circled overhead.

"What do you think?" Astrid asked Hiccup.

"Looks like they're waiting for us," Hiccup said, looking down at the five guards standing in front of the stables.

"I say we take 'em on," said Fishlegs, a bit darkly. They all looked at him shocked. "What!? My Meatlug is in there."

"Okay, we'll need a distraction," Hiccup said. But no sooner had he said the word distraction that one presented itself. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who had wandered off when the riders left the cave, approached the guards and started talking them. Taking their chance, the rest of the riders ran to the stable doors. Hiccup pulled the leaver, and the doors slid open. The dragons emerged, having regained consciousness, and attacked the Berserkers. The riders reunited with their dragons. Serenity was still feeling woozy from the gas. Re and Aurora landed beside her and she all but crawled onto Aurora's saddle. The other riders mounted their dragons and they all took off.

Snotlout and his group had come to the end of the tunnel. They came up through a well, which was just barely big enough for Tenor. They looked out at the jailhouse where Dagur was being held. Many Berserkers stood in front of the only exit. Snotlout looked down at Gustav.

"Okay here's the plan," he whispered. "You go out there and distract the guards, then I'll go in and spring Dagur."

"That sound's risky," said Gustav.

"Okay," said Snotlout. "I'll distract the guards, and you rescue Dagur."

"That sounds too risky too," Gustav complained. Tenor rolled his eyes.

"It's all risky Gustav," said Snotlout. "Where's the super apprentice Dagur was going on about?"

"Well, I'm just a lot better with my dragon," Gustav said nervously.

"Really?" said Snotlout. "You feel better with a firebreathing war machine?"

"Yeah," said Gustav slowly.

"Well guess what, we all are," said Snotlout. "But they're not here. You think I like having you instead of Hookfang. No offense Tenor."

"None taken," Tenor said, flatly.

"Now you keep your mouth shut, and do what I tell you," said Snotlout. With that he jumped out of the well and ran at the guards. Most of them ran after him. Snotlout signaled at Gustav who jumped out of the well. He ran towards the jailhouse. Tenor poked his head out in time to see Gustav get snatched by the remaining guards. Tenor shook his head, then crawled silently out of the well and hid behind it where there was a large shadow.

Hiccup tried to fly Toothless towards the village. But every time Toothless just refused to fly any lower, and would writhe in mid air. Hiccup gave up and landed him back on the cliff where the other riders and dragons waited.

"I've never seen him like this," Hiccup said.

"Well, there was the Red Death," Fishlegs pointed out. "That made him go all crazy."

"True," said Hiccup, dismounting.

"And there was Melody Island," Fishlegs continued. "And that time he ate an eel and started shooting at you."

"Okay, I rarely see him like this," Hiccup corrected.

"The dragons suggested there might be another Red Death hidden on this island somewhere," Serenity said.

"These guys would have known by now if it was," Aurora said. "Red Deaths are extremely hostile towards humans."

"Maybe they're allergic to something on the island," said Fishlegs. "I could collect samples."

"We don't have time for this," said Heather. "Dagur's in danger, our whole island is in danger."

"We'll help in anyway we can," Aurora said. "This entity doesn't seem to effect us as strongly, I'm not sure why."

Tenor managed to find Snotlout, without being seen.

"You have a plan to get those guys out?" Tenor asked.

"I do indeed," Snotlout said. "First I need a rope." Tenor spotted one on a cart. He prowled catlike towards it, grabbed the rope, and bring it back to Snotlout.

"Nice work Tenor," Snotlout said. He handed Tenor on end of the rope. "Tie this to a large boulder and put the boulder on the edge of that well." He then gave Tenor a skeptical look. "You can tie a knot right?" Tenor narrowed his eyes.

"Yes I can tie a knot," he hissed, grabbing the rope. "Only one kind though."

"Fine, you do that and I'll do the rest," said Snotlout. Tenor clamped the rope between his gums and prowled out of sight. He found a good sized boulder and pushed it towards the well. Luckily there were no guards anywhere near the well. He wrapped the rope around the boulder, before tying it off. He heaved the boulder onto the rim of the well, then waited. He watched Snotlout tie his end of the rope into a noose and placed it around one of the guard's ankle. Snotlout then jumped in front of a second guard.

"Hey do you know where I can find Savage?" he asked. The guard tried to tackle him but Snotlout threw him into the boulder. The guard and the boulder fell into the well. The boulder pulled on the rope that was still tied around the remaining guard's foot, pulling him into the well also, Snotlout grabbed that guard's keys as he flew by. Snotlout brushed off his hands, smiling proudly, as the guards vanished out of sight. Tenor ran over to him.

"Thanks Tenor," Snotlout said.

"That was so awesome," Tenor said. They went into the jailhouse. They found Dagur and Gustav in the same cell. Snotlout opened the door.

"Did you guys see how I took out those guards?" he boasted, as Snotlout unlocked his shackles. "It was amazing."

"Ahh, know Gustav deserves some credit," said Dagur. "He put those guards to sleep with his lengthy, boring story." Snotlout and Tenor both glared as they left the jailhouse. Each viking grabbed a weapon grabbed a weapon on the way out.

As the sun went down Dagur, Snotlout, and Gustav ran through the woods, dodging all the Berserkers. Soon they hid behind a fallen tree. Tenor hid behind an upright tree next to them.

"Looks like it's the four of us agains twenty of Savage's men," said Dagur. "What do you say we go seven a piece, Berserker style?"

"Me likey," Snotlout agreed, gripping his ax. Tenor agreed as well.

"Wait, we can't," Gustav blurted out. "I mean I can't."

"You can't what?" asked Dagur. Gustav took a deep breath.

"I'm not the super apprentice you think I am," he confessed. "I cheated on all the history test, I was lip syncing when you sang all the Berserker songs, and I never learned a single battle tactic."

"I knew it," said Snotlout. But then Dagur bushed him behind the tree Tenor was hiding behind.

"You don't think I didn't know that Snotlip," he said. "He's only here because Stoic needed a break from the little beast. This whole apprentice program was fabricated."

"He's in no way prepared for a fight like this," said Snotlout.

"Never fear Snotrider," said Dagur. Snotlout scowled.

"Look, can you please stop messing with my name?" he asked. "I know you know it."

"Oh, but it's so fun," Dagur complained. Snotlout glared, and Tenor growled. "Okay, I'll try my best." Dagur gave in. They turned back towards the fight. "Three against twenty?"

"I've had worse," said Tenor said, going to a crouch.

"Me too," said Snotlout. With that, they charged the Berserkers, with Tenor carrying Gustav on his back.

Hiccup and the other riders had left their dragons and Serenity up by the stables. They and the two Draconians attacked the guards outside the arena. Toothless fired plasma blasts from way up on the cliff, which succeeded in knocking out the guards. The riders ran into the arena and took out the rest of the guards. Savage was still on the platform. He roared in outrage and snatched Heather, holding her switchblade ax to her throat.

"Stand down," he ordered. The riders lowered their weapons. They were at a loss for what to do next. Then suddenly Dagur and Snotlout came swinging into the arena. They knocked Savage off his feet. Tenor dived out of nowhere, he and Snotlout pinned Savage to the ground while Dagur sat back on his throne.

"Nice teamwork Tenor," said Snotlout.

"Right back at you Snotlout," Tenor said. Snotlout would have high fived him, but remembered that Tenor had sharp claws.

The next day after Savage was thrown into the Berserker jailhouse, everyone gathered once again in the arena. Dagur stood on the platform holding a golden statue of himself. He hollered at the top of his lungs to get everyone's attention.

"This trophy goes to the bravest, smartest, and craziest viking in and out of the archipelago," he said loudly, then turned to Gustav. "Unfortunatly it's not you Gusthat." Gustav looked stunned. "Snotlout, get up here and claim what is rightfully yours." Snotlout, looking very taken aback, went up to the platform and Dagur handed him the golden trophy. When his moment in the spotlight ended the riders mounted their dragons and took off. Snotlout held the trophy front and center, beaming.

"So, Snotlout, pretty pleased with yourself aren't you," said Hiccup.

"Yup," said Snotlout. "I can't believe I'm the bravest, smartest, craziest viking in and out of the archipelago." But then he looked at the name on the base of the trophy, and his eyes popped. "What! Snotknuckles!" Everyone burst out laughing. Enraged, Snotlout threw the trophy into the ocean and left it behind.


	4. Snotlout's Angels

Snotlout's Angels

Tenor was flying back to the Edge after a successful night hunt. He now clutched two enormous boars, and a buck. He landed on a cliff near the arena and placed his kills in a pile. He used his fire to burn away the fur. Just as he finished that he heard shouting from Snotlout's hut. Curious, he left his prey for the moment and flew up to see what the commotion was about. He arrived at the same time Hiccup and Heather did. Heather was on the Edge for a casual visit.

"Do you know what's going on?" Hiccup asked.

"No, I just got back," Tenor said. They landed on the porch and found the Twins eavesdropping. They could hear Astrid shouting at Snotlout.

"Snotlout took her ax again?" Hiccup guessed.

"Yup," said Tuffnut. "And m'lady is non too pleased."

"Do you think they'll be long?" asked Heather. "I wanted to say good bye to Astrid before I head home."

"Why is she so attached to that ax anyway?" Tenor asked. "Looks like every other ax I've seen."

"Her mother gave it to her when she started dr..." Hiccup said, but cut off not wanting to offend Tenor.

"Dragon killing you can say it," Tenor said. "I'm not offended anymore, since you've stopped." Suddenly Astrid shrieked in outrage.

"What did you just say to me?!" she roared. They all became alert. Astrid burst out of the door and stormed passed everyone, ax in hand. She flew Stormfly down to her hut. Hiccup and the Twins rushed inside to find Snotlout on his knees.

"What did you say to her?" asked Ruffnut. Snotlout got to his feet and whispered something in her ear.

"Yeah right, you did not just say that," Ruffnut chuckled.

"Yeah, I did," Snotlout said timidly. Ruffnut then whispered into Hiccup's ear. Hiccup was dumbstruck.

"Okay this could be bad," he said. He looked outside in the direction of Astrid's hut. He could hear her banging around inside, like she was looking for something.

"What's she doing?" asked Snotlout.

"Looking for something," said Hiccup. "Possibly a bludgeon. Here's what your going to do, you're going to going to get on Hookfang and fly out of here."

"Yeah right, I'm not afraid of her," said Snotlout. Ruffnut was whispering into Tuffnut's ear.

"You said what?!" Tuff exclaimed. "Are you insane!?"

"Go, it's the only chance you've got," Hiccup said. Snotlout jumped on Hookfang and took off.

"Seriously!?" said Tenor. "All this over an ax? I mean I know she values it, but she got it back in one piece."

"It's actually more serious then that," Hiccup said. He whispered in Tenor's ear.

"Oh, my gosh," he said. "Well, at least I now know what not to say if I find me a mate. Well, I'm going back to my prey. See you all in the morning." He as about to take off.

"Where's Serenity?" asked Heather.

"In the stables, asleep," Tenor said. "Please leave her be." Heather nodded. Tenor glided down to his pile of meat.

He was half way through his first boar when Astrid and Stormfly landed nearby. Astrid jumped off and began throwing her ax at a nearby tree, taking out all her anger out on it. Tenor watched, but didn't say anything and went back to ripping off hunks of meat. Stormfly came up beside him.

"Looks like you had a successful hunt," she said.

"Yup," Tenor said, with his mouthful. "When's the last time you hunted or fished for yourself? If you don't mind me asking."

"Way before I was captured by these vikings and locked up in that arena," Stormfly said. "Nowadays, Astrid gets food for me."

"Maybe you should do it again," Tenor said. "Every dragon does it."

"Yes I know," said Stormfly. "I do kind of miss it, but I like spending the quality time with Astrid too though."

"Hmm," Tenor said, as he swallowed. "Well, to each their own." They went back to watching Astrid. She threw the the ax a the tree again, but it miss and bounced off a rock. It spun rapidly and stuck itself in the boar Tenor was eating, just inches from his forehead. Tenor looked at it, his mouth clamped around another mouthful meat. He let go of the meat, and lifted his head. He griped the ax handle and tugged it out of the boar.

"Sorry Tenor," said Astrid.

"Boar's already dead, there's no need to hack it," Tenor joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm not in the mood Tenor," said Astrid.

"Sorry," Tenor said. He lowered his head and handed the ax back to her.

"Thanks," said Astrid. "Did you hear what Snotlout said to me?"

"Yeah, I take it he's never said that before," Tenor said.

"No, never out loud anyways," said Astrid. "Tenor, if you want to find a mate don't ever say that." Tenor sighed.

"Thanks," he said. "It's going to take a whole lot more than that for me to find a mate." Astrid dropped the subject. Suddenly both dragons became alert, and looked towards the sea.

"What's wrong?" asked Astrid. For an answer a thunderclap boomed overhead. Rain fell shortly afterwards.

"We should get indoors," Tenor said. "I'll finish this later." The grabbed his prey and flew it to a near by cave. Astrid got on Stormfly and headed up to the clubhouse. Tenor put the meat in the cave, then headed down to the stables. He made sure Serenity was safe and sound asleep, before heading up to the clubhouse.

Later, as the rain pounded on the roof of the clubhouse, the riders were sitting down for the quietest meal they'd ever had. Tenor sat in a corner, munching on a few slabs of meat he'd brought from the cave. No one said a word for several minuets.

"Okay, are we just going to sit here and act like nothing's wrong?" Hiccup asked. Everyone just ate faster.

"Nothing is wrong," said Astrid.

"You know he's been gone too long," said Hiccup. "Snotlout never stays away for this long."

"He could have gotten caught in that storm," said Fishlegs.

"Of course he got caught in that storm," said Ruffnut. "He's Snotlout, question is do we...?"

"You know the answer to that," said Hiccup sternly. He and the other reluctantly got up and headed for the stables. Tenor followed.

They entered the quiet stables where all the dragons were sleeping, including Re and Aurora. When they were all woken up Hiccup explained to Re and Aurora that they were going after Snotlout.

"We should bring Serenity along," Hiccup said. "In case something happened to Hookfang." Aurora went over to where Serenity was sleeping, and woke her up as the riders saddled their dragons. Serenity didn't object to being woken up in the middle of the night. She got out of bed, put on her hood and mask, and mounted Aurora with her medical bag. They all headed out into the storm. Both Toothless and Tenor started sending out sonar signals almost at once.

They flew through the storm for a solid hour. The rain hammered them and it made it very hard to see. The Draconians ignored the wave of deja vu they were feeling, and focused on keeping each other in sight.

"Hiccup, we're never going to find anything out here," said Astrid. "I can barely see Stormfly's head in front of me."

"I agree," said Fishlegs. "Maybe we should head back and wait it out."

"Guys, look," Hiccup said, pointing straight ahead. They looked to see a blaze of light speeding towards them. A moment latter Hookfang literally blazed up to them, very distressed.

"Guys! Thank Draco you're here," he said. He began flying back and forth roaring in desperation.

"We've seen him do this before," said Hiccup.

"He want's us to follow him," said Fishlegs. So they took off after Hookfang. He lead them through the storm, and out into bright sunlight.

They flew through the dense clouds. Hookfang vanished into the clouds, but then came speeding back out again, zipping passed Hiccup.

"What the?" he exclaimed. But then he spotted what appeared to be feminine human figures, with wings, hovering just above the cloud line.

"Are those?" Hiccup said, confused.

"Flying women!?" said Fishlegs.

"Is it just me, or is that impossible," said Hiccup.

"What's impossible?" asked Astrid, as she and the Twins caught up to them.

"Oh, nothing," said Fishlegs. "We're just having some friendly hallucinations."

"Really, so you didn't see the flying native women?" said Tuffnut.

"Okay, we really need to learn more about these women," said Hiccup. He lead the way down towards a sea stack, and landed on it. A tall island stood in the distance. Hiccup pulled out his spyglass and looked through it at a village on the island. He saw more of the flying women, zooming about the place. Then he spotted two of them carrying Snotlout towards a cave, tied to a pole.

"I see Snotlout," he said. "They're taking him into a cave."

"Yeah, he probably said something that he would say," said Astrid.

"Well we're not letting them do anything to him," said Hiccup, determined. "We're going in there and getting him out."

"Who is this we you speak of?" asked Ruffnut.

"All of us," said Hiccup.

"Uh Hiccup it's all women down there," Astrid pointed out. "If we have to save Snotlout, and I'm not completely convinced we do, then Heather, Ruffnut, Serenity, and I should take the lead on this one. Make them feel at ease."

"What if we all went in on Windshear," Heather suggested, who was looking through her own spyglass. "There's something familiar about those wings."

"Can Windshear carry all four of us?" asked Serenity. "I can go in on Aurora, if it'll make more room."

"Good idea," said Astrid.

"Okay," Hiccup agreed. "We'll be there if you need us. Probably best you don't mention Snotlout until you find out why they have him locked up." Astrid nodded. She, Heather, and Ruffnut got on Windshear, and Serenity got on Aurora. They took off and headed towards the island.

"Um Serenity, I think you should take off the mask," said Astrid. Both Serenity and Aurora exchanged an anxious glance.

"Those are women, I don't think they'll harm you," said Heather. Aurora sighed and nodded at Serenity. She reluctantly uncovered her face.

They flew towards the island, with Windshear in the lead. They suddenly heard something flying around below the clouds. Windshear was nervous but didn't break her stride. Just then one of the flying women emerged, flying upside down.

"What a beautiful Razerwhip," she said, with a unique accent. She stroked Windshear's snout. She flipped right side up, and pulled along side Windshear along with two other women. They were all wearing armor made from shiny silver dragon scales. They flew with small silver dragon wings, that looked the same as Windshear's. The woman in front, who appeared to be the leader, wore a crown on her head made of more silvery scales.

"And very well behaved," she said, her voice was soft but strong.

"I've had her since she was a hatchling," said Heather. "She must have gotten separated from her mother."

"I am Atali, leader of the Wingmaidens," said the woman. "We are not here to harm you, but we ask how it is you came to be in our islands borders?"

"We were on our way home to our own island," said Astrid. "But we were caught in a bad storm and must have gotten blown off course."

"We don't usually allow men on our island," said Atali, gesturing to Ruffnut.

"Hey, I'm as woman as you'll ever be sister," said Ruffnut.

"My apologies," said Atali. "We will provide you with shelter this evening, and a hot meal,"

"Now you're talking," said Ruffnut. "What's on the menu?"

"We're having stew," said Atali. "Sacred Stew." They picked up speed as the got closer to the island. Atali noticed Serenity and Aurora.

"You are Queen Aurora," she said. "Daughter of the Dragon God." Aurora looked surprised.

"How'd you know?" she asked.

"We will explain more later," said Atali. "But, we have seen Lord Draco and he told us about you."

"Interesting," said Aurora, more to herself. Atali then looked back at the three on Windshear.

"May we ask you your names?" she asked.

"I'm Heather," said Heather. "And this is Windshear." She patted her dragon's neck."

"I'm Astrid," said Astrid.

"And I'm Ruffnut," said Ruffnut. "And that's Serenity." She pointed at Serenity.

"Serenity," said Atali. "Very pretty name."

"Thanks," said Serenity, smiling. "I like your accent." Everyone couldn't help but do a double take; Atali and Serenity looked like they could have been sisters. They had a similar build, the same color eyes, and Atali's hair was only a touch darker than Serenity's. Even their voices sounded similar, even with Atali's accent.

"You guys aren't related are you?" asked Heather.

"I doubt it," said Serenity. "A lot of dragons look the same and they're not related, who says humans aren't like that as well."

Soon they landed in the village, which looked similar to Queen Mala's village. The riders dismounted. Atali led them through her island.

"As I said before, we don't allow males to integrate into our tribe," Atali said.

"Why's that?" asked Astrid.

"We have a important work here," said Atali. "It's something males wouldn't understand, nor would they be helpful."

"Amen to that sister," Ruffnut blurted out.

"Ruffnut, you can't seriously think that way about the guys do you?" said Heather, shocked. Serenity stayed quiet as usual. She didn't know why, but being around these females relaxed her and she felt that she was in no danger.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have business to attend to," said Atali. "But please feel free to take in the beauty our island has to offer." With that, she and her Wingmaidens walked off. Astrid turned to her fellow riders.

"Well that's the end of Snotlout," she said.

"We have to find him before he says something to make them more mad," said Heather. She caught the look both Astrid and Ruffnut were giving her. "Yeah that ship's sailed huh?"

"Can you two keep their chief busy while I look for Snotlout?" asked Astrid. "He's a muttonhead, but he's our muttonhead. Aurora, will you help me?" Aurora nodded.

"Come on Heather, I think I saw boar pit on the way in," said Ruffnut enthusiastically. "Maybe they're up for a game of doubles." Both she and Heather walked off. Astrid mounted Aurora and rode in another direction. Serenity decided to heed Atali's advice and explored the village.

Astrid rode Aurora through a small canyon. Soon they reached a dead end and found Snotlout fast asleep dangling upside down by his foot, a good several feet off the ground. Astrid spotted the key on the ground. She dismounted and picked the key up. She approached Snotlout and tried waking him up. She grew frustrated. She then flicked his nose hard, and that roused him. Aurora turned around and kept watched while Astrid and Snotlout argued.

"But you hate me," said Snotlout.

"I don't hate you," said Astrid. "You annoy me to death. But you're one of us and I'm not going to let anything happen to you." She handed him the key. He managed to free himself and he fell to the ground.

"The others will meet you on the north side of the island," said Astrid. Snotlout took off again. Astrid jumped back onto Aurora and rode back to the village.

They found Heather and Ruffnut sitting outside a house, covered in mud. Astrid rode up next to them and dismounted.

"What happened to you guys?" she asked.

"Turns out that was a boar pit," said Heather, getting to her feet. "And they did want to play doubles." Serenity found them then and stood beside her queen.

"Well I'd ask how you did," said Astrid, amused.

"I don't even want to talk about it," Ruffnut fumed. "Some people don't take the game as seriously as they should."

"Anyway, I've freed Snotlout," said Astrid. "Now we need to get out of here before they realize he's gone. Where's Windshear." Just then Atali and her Wingmaidens flew up to them.

"You're not leaving are you?" she asked.

"Oh, yes we have a long way to go," said Astrid.

"And it'll be dark soon," said Heather.

"That's a shame," said Atali. "I so wanted to show you the newborns." She then turned around in the air. Everyone could now see that her wings actually belonged to a baby Razorwhip dragonet that was clinging to her back. It lifted its tiny head, and squealed happily at them. This got their attention at once and agreed to stay longer.

Atali led them to a small medow where down below they saw more Razorwhip dragonets stumbling about. Heather was so shocked, and Windshear smiled warmly.

"Where are their mothers?" she asked. "How can you keep them from...?"

"We're not keeping them from their mothers," Atali explained. "We're saving them. Heather did you know that thousands of years ago the Razorwhip was almost extinct?"

"I did not know that," said Heather, looking at Windshear.

"It's true," said Aali. "And it was then that our Wingmaiden tribe was tasked with a devine mission, given to us by the Dragon God himself. And one that we fulfill with great joy."

"You serve Draco?" asked Serenity.

"Yes," said Atali. "Lord Draco called on us to help his Razorwhips rebuild. In exchange he gives all we need to thrive." Astrid looked down at the baby Razorwhips. They were stumbling about and bumping into each other.

"There's something about them," she said. "Are they...?"

"Blind?" said Atali. "Yes. All Razorwhips are born blind. They are helpless and the mothers cannot protect them against male Razorwhips. The males will feed on the babies unless someone is there to stop them." Aurora sighed.

"I think the dragon race need to fix a couple of things about themselves," she said.

"So that's where you come in," said Heather.

"Yes," Atali said. "We have a mutual understanding with the mothers that the hatchlings will stay with us until they'er strong enough to stand and fly. Then they fly on our backs until they are old enough to defend themselves. Only then are they returned to their mothers, and released into the wild."

"So what you're telling me," said Heather.

"Your dragon was once part of our family," said Atali. "She was raised by us until she was old enough go out on her own." The little Razorwhip on her back crawled into her arms and Atali cradled her.

"She was so little when I found her," said Heather, stroking Windshear. "But we bonded right away."

"The first contact with another living thing creates a life long bond," said Atali. "One that shall never be broken. You're a very lucky woman Heather."

"That I am," Heather agreed.

"I love it when my Father gets creative," said Aurora. "He never lets any of his dragons go extinct completely. I also like it when he allows humans to help him sometimes, instead of turning them away. It shows he has a more open mind than Odin." Just then one of the Wingmaidens appeared at the top of the cliff.

"The prisoner's escaped," she called. "Someone set him free." Atali looked at Astrid.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know," said Astrid. "He's meeting our friends at the base of the north mountain."

"That is unfortunate," said Atali.

"Why?" asked Heather.

"That is the nesting grounds for the Razorwhips," said Atali. "If the mothers sense any male presence they will attack, to kill." Astrid looked horrified.

"I just sent Snotlout right into them," she said. "I sent him to his death." The riders got on Windshear and Serenity mounted Aurora, they took off and headed back to the rest of the riders.

They landed on the sea stack where Hiccup and the other riders waited. Hiccup looked curious when the two dragons and three Wingmaidens landed in front of him.

"Astrid, are we okay here?" he asked.

"We are," said Astrid. "Which is more than I can say for Snotlout."

"Unfortunatly your friend has found himself in a nesting sight for Razorwhips," Atali explained.

"Razorwhips?" said Tenor, curious.

"Father Draco hired these women to help rebuild his Razorwhip population, when they nearly went extinct," Aurora explained.

"What's he doing there?" asked Fishlegs. "Doesn't know how female dragons act towards males when their nesting?"

"He does now," Tuffnut snickered.

"Well looks like it's up to us," said Hiccup. "And when I say us, I mean Fishlegs and Tuffnut you distract the mothers while the rest of us rescue Snotlout." They all agreed.

"We'll act as a safety net," Re said, gesturing to Tenor. "But Aurora and Serenity should help you guys as well." Both Aurora and Serenity smiled eagerly. The riders got on their dragons. Hookfang boosted Tuffnut onto his back and they all took off.

They flew over the northern side of the island, which was nothing but dense forest. Within minuets adult Razorwhips came charging at them, roaring.

"They're just protecting their nests," Hiccup reminded them. "So we don't need to fire on them."

"Evasive maneuvers," said Fishlegs. The riders and Wingmaidens split up. The wild Razorwhips went after Fishlegs and Tuffnut. The rest of the group flew low through the trees, dodging the Razorwhips, and looking for Snotlout.

"The trees are so dense," said Heather. "How are we going to find Snotlout in this?"

"Just listen for the screams," said Astrid. Not two minuets later, they heard Snotlout yelling. They homed in on that, and soon they found Snotlout backing off from a Razorwhip. Astrid flew Stormfly down and drove the Razorwhip off.

"Astrid!?" Snotlout cried happily. "How did you find me?"

"Your scream is unmistakable," said Astrid. Just then more Razorwhips surrounded Snotlout. Astrid and the others were about to drive them off.

"Wait," said Aurora. They all stopped. "I don't think we have to fight them. This can be arranged peacefully. This land belongs to the Razorwhips. They just have to know that we're doing them a favor. This way no one gets hurt." Both the riders and the Wingmaidens exchanged a glance.

"You sure?" asked Atali.

"Yes," said Aurora. "I have been around nesting mothers before."

"So have I," said Serenity. The riders and Wingmaidens backed off. Aurora flew down and landed between Snotlout and the Razorwhips. They dragons paused.

"Can we help you?" asked one with purple eyes, sounding stressed.

"We're here to help you," said Serenity, in dragontongue. "But we want to do it without bloodshed." This surprised both the Razorwhips and the Wingmaidens.

"You can speak to us?" asked the first Razorwhip.

"Yes," said Serenity. "I'm kind of like you guys. You were taken care of by humans, and I was raised by dragons." The Razorwhips exchanged a glance.

"Do you not trust males either?" asked one with yellow eyes.

"Humans not entirely," said Serenity. "But dragons yes."

"You can never be too careful though," said the yellow eyed dragon. "Both are capable of harm. That's why we only trust our dragonets to these Wingmaidens." Serenity dismounted.

"Anyway," said the purple eyed dragon. "How can yo help us?"

"We can take this viking out of your scales," Aurora said, gesturing to Snotlout. "For good."

"He'll just come back if we don't kill him," said a red eyed Razorwhip.

"No he won't," said Aurora. "He'll come back to the village on the other side of the island. But he won't come into these woods again, you have my word."

"You're not a mother are you," said a green eyed Rasorwhip that was taller the Windshear. Aurora's eyes fell.

"No, but I hope to be someday," she said. Serenity approached the Razorwhips calmly. They watched her wearily.

"You trust these Wingmaidens right?" she asked.

"We do," said the green eyed Razorwhip. "Lord Draco himself gave us his word that they could be trusted with our dragonets. But we don't trust males."

"Draco is a male," Serenity pointed out.

"Yes that's true," said the yellow eyed dragon. "But he's also the one who gave us these dragonets, he made them for us."

"Then you can trust him, and these Wingmaidens to keep the males out in the future," Serenity said. "Just let this one go." She pointed at Snotlout. She carefully stroked the yellow eyed dragon's snout. The dragon stiffened, but did not attack. They Razorwhips chatted amongst themselves for a few seconds.

"All right," said the purple eyed dragon. "He can go, and never come back."

"Thank you," said Aurora. She looked up at the riders and nodded. They came down and flew Snotlout away from the nesting sight.

"Come on Serenity lets get out of their way," said Aurora. Serenity patted the yellow eyed dragon on the snout again, then ran back to her queen. They all took off and headed back to the village.

When they landed safe at the village the riders dismounted. Atali approached Aurora and Serenity.

"I wonder if Serenity would like to join the Wingmaidens," she said. "She seems to get a long so well with the Razorwhips. I think she'd fit in really well."

"She doesn't fight," said Aurora. "She's a healer."

"That's perfectly fine," said Atali. "There's always room for a healer. She would be perfectly safe here." Aurora looked at Serenity.

"What do you think Serenity?" she asked. "You want to join the Wingmaidens? At least until it's time to return home."

"You mean stay here without you guys?" Serenity said.

"It's not safe for you on Dragon's Edge right now," Aurora said. "More danger will come, those hunters are still out there. These guys will keep you safe and busy, until we come back for you."

"So it won't be forever," Serenity said.

"No, it won't be forever," said Atali. "Just until you are ready to return home."

"And I'm not required to fight?" Serenity asked.

"No, we have a lot of requirements," said Atali. "But fighting is not one of them." Serenity heaved a huge sigh.

"Okay," she said. "I'll join the Wingmaidens." Atali smiled.

"I'm glad you excepted," she said. "I'm confident you'll fit in nicely." Serenity smiled back. Atali held out her hand and Serenity shook it. "Welcome aboard Serenity." They then rejoined the others. Aurora told Re and Tenor about Serenity joining the Wingmaidens. They both agreed that it would be safer for her, than staying on Dragon's Edge.

Later that night the riders, dragons, and Wingmaidens sat around a bonfire. Snotlout sat beside Astrid. She noticed him fidgeting with the goblet in his hands.

"Something you'd like to say Snotlout?" she asked. Snotlout sighed.

"Astrid, I've learned my lesson this time," he said. "No more disrespect, no more cleaning Hooky body parts with your favorite ax. It's just, well, I can be a bit of a muttonhead."

"Yeah," Astrid agreed. "But you're our muttonhead." She have him an affectionate punch on the arm.

"A toast to our new friends from Dragon's Edge," Atali announced, holding her cup of tea. "You have taught us a lesson in tolerance and acceptance. You will alway be welcome here on the Isle of Wingmaidens, each and every one of you." She smiled at her guests. "And to the conclusion of the nesting season. Now that it is over for another season, there is much work to be done. But no other task brings us such great joy." She stroked the baby Razorwhip on her back, and it chirped happily. "I am also welcome Serenity of Draconia to our tribe of Wingamaidens." She looked over at Serenity, who was now wearing the same silvery-scaled armor as the other Wingmaidens and held a matching mask in her hands. The riders looked surprised, but pleased at this. Serenity smiled modestly and waved as the other Wingmaidens applauded her. Everyone raised their goblets to the toast.

The next day Serenity said her good byes to her dragon family, before they followed the riders and their dragons back to Dragon's Edge.


	5. A Matter of Perspective

A Matter of Perspective

On Eruptadon Island the volcano had erupted again. Lava ran down the mountain towards the village. The Defenders of the Wing watched it get closer to their houses. The Eruptadon was no where in sight. The lava reached as far as the first house before the Eruptadon even showed herself. She wasn't flying fast enough and the lava was about to engulfed the Defenders. But just as it was about to burn everything the younger Eruptadon flew over and landed in front of the lava. She began lapping it up. Her mother soon joined her. The Defenders breathed a sigh of relief.

When the lava was stopped the two Eruptadons took a break near the village.

"Well done Igneous," said Lavette. "I guess I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Don't worry Mother, I'll make sure the lava doesn't burn these humans," said Igneous confidently.

"Good," said Lavette. Suddenly she heard a voice coming from above. She glanced up at the blue sky. The voice came again.

"Come to Vanahiem," it said. Lavette knew who the voice belonged to.

"What's going on?" Igneous asked. Lavette sighed.

"My time has come," she said. "Draco's calling me to Vanahiem." Igneous looked surprised.

"Can I come too?" she asked.

"No," said Lavette. "You have to stay here and protect these humans from the volcano." Igneous looked disappointed. "But don't worry. Time goes by quickly, and if you're good Lord Draco will call you to Vanahiem." This made Igneous feel a bit better.

"So you're actually going to see the Dragon God himself?" she asked.

"Not right away," said Lavette. "But I will meet him when I leave this Earth for the Dragon Heaven."

"Wow," said Igneous.

Mala and Throck were watching the two Eruptadons talking. They couldn't understand what they were saying of course, but they somehow knew what their conversation was about. Throck's face fell.

"It's time," said Mala. "I'm sorry Thock." She wrote a message to the dragon riders and sent it.

On Dragon's Edge the riders and dragons were lounging about, with nothing much to do. Hiccup had shut himself in his hut, and was working on something. Tenor was asleep under Astrid's hut. There was a flat rock under there that was perfect for resting on, and it was shady. The day was quite sunny and too much sunlight burned his skin. He was curled in a ball, covering his face with his wing and his tail fin. It was quiet, then Astrid flew Stormfly down to him.

"Tenor, we just got an invite from Mala," she said. Tenor sat up and looked at her.

"Time to get up then?" he asked, sleepily.

"Yup," said Astrid. Tenor yawned.

"Okay," he said. "I'll go get Re and Aurora." He took off and headed for the stables. Astrid flew to Hiccup's house. She knocked on his door. She heard him suddenly fumble around inside, as though he was rushing to hide something before opening the door.

"Hey," said Hiccup, blushing.

"Hey, what are you up to?" asked Astrid. "Working on that secret project?"

"Ahh, it's not secret," Hiccup said awkwardly. "It's well, you know."

"Yeah, a secret," said Astrid. "Don't worry you can tell us when your ready. In the meantime, from Mala." She handed him the message. Hiccup took it and read it.

He gathered up all the riders and dragons, telling them where they were going. The riders saddled their dragons. Tenor glanced at the corner where Serenity used to sleep. Ever since she'd joined the Wingmaidens life just wasn't the same without her. He knew she was safe, and happy. But he still missed her. The riders mounted their dragons and flew towards Eruptadon Island. Tenor watched the other dragons with their riders, wishing he still had a rider too.

"You okay Tenor?" asked Hiccup, who was fly next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. Hiccup could guess what was bothering him.

"Serenity sounds perfectly happy where she is, according to her letters," Hiccup said. "And she's safe, which is what you wanted isn't it."

"Yeah, it's just odd not having her around," Tenor said. "I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

They soon arrived at Mala's village. The Defenders were setting up for an event. Mala smiled as the riders and dragons landed in front of her.

"I'm so glad you could make it to our changing of the guard celebration," she said. "It wouldn't be the same without you." They wandered through the village. They approached the older Eruptadon.

"When the Eruptadon gets too old to do its duty," Throck explained. "It leaves us to live out it's golden years on Vanahiem."

"Vana what?" asked Tuffnut.

"Vanahiem," Aurora said. "It's a sacred place Father Draco created for all dragons to spend their last few years on Earth, before being taken up to the Dragon Heaven."

"Our Great Protecter has been with us for four decades," said Throck, emotionally.

"Vanahiem is very much real," said Mala. "It's been part of our culture for centuries."

"So you've seen it!" said Hiccup.

"By the ancients no," said Mala, a bit shocked. "We've had no way of following it,"

"Not until now," sneered Tuffnut.

"Nor would we," Mala continued, sternly. "There are certain parts of the animal kingdom where humans mustn't tread."

"I couldn't agree more Mala," said Hiccup, looking right at the Twins. "We must stay away from dragon culture that pure and undisturbed."

"Plus Father Draco enchanted the land with booby traps," Aurora said. "That kill any human intruders." Throck went over to the Eruptadon.

"This will be hard for Throck," said Mala. "He and that dragon have shared a strong bond."

"I can understand that," said Hiccup, sympathetically.

"But it is with great happiness that they part," said Mala, smiling.

"Happy!?" said Hiccup. "I don't know. If I had to say good bye to Toothless, I'd be pretty sad."

"Sadness it a matter of perspective," Mala assured him. "It is how you choose to see something that makes it happy or sad." Hiccup pondered that as Mala continued. "We don't see this as a time to morn, but to rejoice. This is a well earned rest for the Great Protecter. We should all be so lucky to have lived such a meaningful life." Hiccup smiled as he watched Throck rub the Eruptadon down with a purple rag.

Later that evening everyone was at the tables for a feast. Aurora sat beside Mala. During the feast Aurora glanced up the stars. The constellation Draco looked down the village. She'd often fantasized about retiring to Vanahiem. But from the beginning she told Draco that she would never go there without Re. Draco promised they they would go there together. She pictured herself on the island, with Re, enjoying each other and not worrying about a thing. Hiccup spotted the dreamy look on her face.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her.

"About my own retirement to Vanahiem," Aurora. said. "I think about it frequently."

"What do you know about that place?" asked Hiccup. Aurora looked around to find more curious eyes on her. Aurora decided to tell them anything she was permitted to say.

"Well, Vanahiem is not just one single location," she said. "It's scattered all over the globe, so dragons in different parts of the world have access to it. Vanahiem is one of the oldest and purest locations in dragon history. It's even older the Draconia. Father created it shortly after the Dinosaurs went extinct."

"What are Dinosaurs?" asked Astrid.

"Oh, I forgot you humans don't know about the Dinosaurs," said Aurora. "They were large reptiles, a bit like dragons only they couldn't breath fire. They went extinct millions of years ago. Shortly after that happened, Father made himself a place to rest at the end of his own mortal life, before he acceded to his kingdom. He love it so much that he made more locations like it, and wanted all the dragons of the world to enjoy the same luxuries he did at the end of their life here. When a dragon fulfilled their destiny he would say to them, quote, 'Come to Vanahiem'. Dragons have retired there ever since. However these days more dragons are being killed by humans and don't live long enough to see Vanahiem. In a few short years time, er three I think, the Eruptadon will leave the Earth and will ascend to the Dragon Heaven, as Father did all those centuries ago." She pointed to the constellation above. "And not only fly with him, but all her ancestors." The Eurptadon glanced up at the stars.

"What if the dragon turns bad like the Red Death?" asked Hiccup.

"Then Father starts their life over again," said Aurora. "Until they are worth of Vanahiem. And he wants absolutely no humans on that island. Serenity isn't even allowed there. It's strictly for dragons only, and even they have to be invited before they're allowed to go there. Like I said, he booby trapped the place to keep humans off and even I don't know what they are, though I believe it has something to do with the rocks."

"Do you know what it looks like?" asked Astrid.

"Nope," said Aurora. "I've never seen it. And I don't plan to for awhile. I'd rather be chained up forever then disobey Father."

When the feast ended everyone turned in for the night, except Lavette. She was really looking forward to retirement. She planned to depart for Vanahiem first thing in the morning. She wanted to spend one last night in her volcano.

At sunrise the next day everyone gathered at the edge of the island. They all wanted to see the Eruptadon off. Lavette said one last farewell to Igneous. Then she went right to the edge beside Throck. He patted her leg affectionately.

"Farewell Great Protector," he said quietly. "Until we meet again." Lavette looked at him and nodded once. Then she spread her wings and took off. They watched her until they saw her no more. When she was out of sight, they headed back to the village.

Later at breakfast the riders were getting a bite to eat before heading back to Dragon's Edge. Hiccup glanced around, noticing that the Twins were missing.

"Hey, where are the Twins?" he asked. "When's the last time they turned down a free meal?"

"They departed our shores earlier this morning," said Throck.

"Departed?" said Hiccup. But then it clicked. "Oh, no." He quickly called the other riders for a quick meeting. "We have to go after them. Astrid go see if she has something with the Eruptadon's sent." Astrid nodded and ran off. She found both Aurora and Mala talking. The two queens looked over at Astrid as she ran up to them.

"Mala, the Twins went after the Eruptadon," she said. "They're on their way to Vanahiem. We need something with the Eruptadon's sent, so we can track them down." Both queen frowned at this.

"I strongly advise against it," Mala said. "Two intruders on Vanahiem is bad enough, any more might make things worse."

"They'er one of us," said Astrid. "We have to get them away from there." Mala took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with Aurora.

"Very well," she said. She pulled out the purple cloth Throck had used on the Eruptadon. "This might help. I only hope you come back in one piece." Astrid took the cloth.

"Thank you," she said. She ran off to join the other riders, as they mounted their dragons. Aurora watched them.

"Oh, man," she sighed. "Father's not going to like this."

The riders left the island. The Draconians stayed behind, since they did not want to anger Draco. Hiccup scowled the whole time.

"Why did I ever let them out of my sight?" he fumed. "I can't even have a breakfast anymore!"

"Okay we know the Eruptadon's heading north," said Fishlegs, thumbing through his stat cards. "So based on its size and speed, we should close the distance."

"Mala gave me this," said Astrid, pulling out the purple cloth and holding it to Stormfly's nostril. "Although she was not to pleased we were going."

"Yeah I'm with her on that," said Hiccup. "We shouldn't be anywhere near that place. Which is why we need to catch up to those two...Twins." Stormfly sniffed the cloth and squawked when she picked up the sent.

"Okay, she's got the sent," said Astrid. "Here we go."

Soon they arrived an eerie looking island. It was dead quiet. The dragons flew in low, looking around. They didn't see much at first except for rocks and cliffs. Then Toothless came to a dead stop and growled at what looked like a large dragon statue.

"Whoa bud, it's just a dragon sentinel statue," Hiccup said. Fishlegs looked at the sentinel, confused.

"I don't get it," he said. "If no human has been here, then who carved these statues?"

"Draco must have carved them," said Hiccup. "It's the only explanation." He could almost feel the Dragon God's eyes glaring down at them. The went farther inland. As the flew over the island they got a good look at Vanahiem. Fishlegs beamed at how lovely and peaceful it was. Hiccup quickly spotted the Twins and their Zippleback in an apple tree. They landed and Hiccup confronted them harshly.

"How were we supposed to know what that look meant," winded Ruffnut.

"Well, what did you think it meant?" asked Hiccup, annoyed. "We can't be here. We can't upset the natural order of dragons, especially when they transition over to the afterlife." He expected Draco to show up any minuet and burn them. "We're leaving now." He got on Toothless and they took off. The other riders followed. They were just passing more of the sentinel statues, when they came to life. They Sentinels turned their heads in the direction of the intruders and growled. They took off and charged them. The riders were shocked to see the stone come to life. The Sentinels circled them.

"Stay together," Hiccup ordered. "There's too many of them to take on alone. We have to bust through them." They sped towards one of the Sentinels, but the dragon gave a powerful thrust of his wings. The riders were hit with a powerful shockwave, that slammed them onto the ground and knocked them out.

"That'll teach to you trespass on the Master Dragon's land," barked the Sentinel. The riders lay on at the bottom of the quarry.

The riders came round. Hiccup got to his feet and glanced around. They were surrounded by tall cliffs, and apple trees. No one seemed to be hurt.

"Once again I'd like to point out that Mala and Throck conveniently left out the part where we almost get killed!" exclaimed Snotlout, who was stuck in a tree. Hiccup glanced up at the circling Sentinels. Snotlout managed to get out of the tree.

"How could they have known that Snotlout?" said Fishlegs. "They've never been here. No one's been here." Snotlout just folded his arms and scowled.

"Those Sentinels are the reason no one knows about Vanahiem," Hiccup said, taking his eyes off them. The Sentinels landed and turned back into statues. Astrid watched them.

"Draco must have put them here to make sure whoever comes here, never gets out," she said.

"We have to find a way out of here," said Hiccup.

"Or we could stay and explore," Fishlegs suggested. "I mean since we're here." Hiccup just glared at him. He didn't want Draco to get even angrier at them. "Or we could leave immediately."

"Now, it seems that these guy's power comes from them as a unit," said Hiccup. "So if we split up, they split up. We'll take off in opposite directions, and split them in half. Then once they're separated we take them one on one. Astrid, you Snotlout and Fishlegs go first."

So they tired that. They got on their dragons and took off, splitting up. The Sentinels sprang after them. The riders tried to take them on, but they had a counter attack for everything. They shot Stormfly's spins back at her, they blew out Hookfang's fire. Then when the Twins tried to take them on they fanned the green gas back at the Zippleback and ignited it. Everyone was knocked back to the ground. The riders gathered under and apple tree to catch their breath.

"Okay that didn't work," said Hiccup. "If we can't fly out, then maybe we can get out on foot."

"Hmm, that will give us an opportunity to inspect this place," said Fishlegs excitedly. Hiccup glared at him again. "Hiccup the dragon knowledge we could find here is immeasurable." Hiccup really didn't wan his riders messing with Draco's island. He wondered why the Dragon God hadn't shown up yet.

"Look the main priority is getting passed those Sentinels," he said. "Let's split up again, we'll cover more ground. AND DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! This place is sacred, it's not meant for human interaction. Draco will not be happy when he realizes we're here." The riders split up.

Fishlegs and the Twins went though an opening the cliff wall. On the other side was a vast meadow, lined with more high cliffs. The terrain was made up of large hills with caves cut into them. The Twins ran into the nearest one and began snooping around. The opening was lined with Nadder spines and the cave was filled with Deadly Nadder bones.

"Guys did you no hear what Hiccup just said?" Fishlegs asked.

"Yes we heard," said Tuffnut. "But chose not to listen."

"You guys are disturbing the final resting place of what appears to be the Deadly Nadder," said Fishlegs. "You can't just walk around in there, that's sacred ground." But the Twins continued to rummage through the bones, not really caring at all. So Fishlegs dragged them out, hopping the Dragon God would forgive them.

They continued to explore the shines and tombs. Fishlegs was very enthralled by the place. He and Meatlug found the Gronkle's tomb, and the Twins found the one for the Monstrous Nightmare. At the very back of the meadow was an enormous boulder, as big as a Screaming Death and seemed to be vaguely dragon shaped. Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout and their dragons soon arrived in the meadow as well. Snotlout began poking at one of the Sentinels, eating an apple. Hiccup got on Toothless. At once the Sentinel snapped at Snotlout, causing him to fall on his backside. The Sentinel glared down at Hiccup.

"Hey, don't worry," he said, dismounting. "I'm not going anywhere." The Sentinel did not attack, but still glared.

"Hiccup, I don't think sneaking out on foot is going to work either," said Astrid.

"I agree, we need to out think them," said Hiccup. "Draco must have planned everything out very carefully."

When the sun went down the riders built a campfire and sat around it. The Eruptadon joined them, though she wasn't happy at all. Snotlout watched Meatlug try giving it a snack which she refused.

"Okay, what's its problem?" Snotlout asked.

"It must be unsettled about being here," said Fishlegs.

"Or it's unsettled that we're here," said Hiccup.

"Well, it better get used to it," said Astrid. "Because there's no getting out of here."

"Hey did you guys notice that no matter what type of dragon attacks the Sentinels, they always have the perfect defense," said Hiccup.

"It's because they've seen the same type of dragons over and over," said Fishlegs. "They've learned all the strengths and all the weaknesses."

"We beg to differ," said Tuffnut. "We've been making a list of all the dragon tombs." Ruffnut shoved a notebook into Hiccup's face. Hiccup looked at it. He did notice that there was a tomb for every dragon, except one."

"The Night Fury," he said. "There are no Night Fury bones here." Toothless became amazed at this. It made him wonder what Lord Draco had in store for him.

"Which means if this part of Vanahiem isn't the final resting place for Night Furies, then they might not stop you and Toothless from escaping," said Fishlegs.

"And even if they did they wouldn't have developed a defense for us," said Hiccup. "I can try and get passed them and go get help." At once he jumped on Toothless and took off.

As they flew away the Sentinels blocked them. Toothless spun and shot multiple blasts at them. The Sentinels were stunned long enough for Hiccup and Toothless to fly passed. As they did so Hiccup noticed the Sentinels' milky white eyes.

"They're blind," said Hiccup. "These guys can't see a thing." He clicked the stirrup and Toothless flew out of the Sentinels' range. "Okay, now let's fly to Berk and get help." But as they started to leave, Hiccup pulled Toothless a sudden stop. "Wait what am I doing? We can't tell. anyone about this place. It belongs to Draco and the dragons, not to us or any humans. We'll just have to find another way. Mala was right, I have to find a different perspective and I have to find it quick." With that Hiccup and Toothless flew back towards the island.

Hiccup landed on a cliff that looked down over all the Sentinels. He looked at them through his spyglass.

"Okay what do we know about these guys," he said. "They run this place with an iron fist, they eat nothing but that fruit, they've never encountered Night Furies before and that would be the only dragon they haven't seen. And speaking of seeing, they don't. But they can track pretty well for something that's blind." He put his spyglass away.

They sat there for a few hours trying to come up with something. Hiccup fell asleep eventually. Toothless suddenly heard the Sentinels moving. He nudged Hiccup awake, who jumped up and looked through his spyglass again. He didn't see the Sentinels at their posts. He scanned the area and spotted some of them near the other riders and dragons. Panicking he pocketed the spyglass and took off on Toothless. They sped towards the Sentinels, but Hiccup pulled Toothless to a stop half way there.

"Wait a minuet," he said as Toothless landed again. They watched the Sentinels some more. They didn't look aggressive anymore. They were busying themselves with various task. On was cutting the grass with his talons, one was maintaining the tombs, and one was giving the Eruptadon some apples. She ate them, trying to calm down.

"They're not attacking, they're working," said Hiccup. "They're taking care of the island." This made him see the Sentinels not only as guards, but as the island's caretakers. "I guess it does come down to perspective." Toothless glanced up at the constellation Draco, directly over them. Draco was never an evil dragon, even though he must be so angry at the moment, he had good reason this time.

They spent the rest of the night gathering the apples. As the sun came up they filled a whole bag full them, then landed beside the other riders. Snotlout woke up and saw Hiccup.

"Hiccup, great, where's the help?" he asked.

"It's not here," said Hiccup. "And no one's coming. I've got something better." He opened the bag of fruit. The riders looked confused. "Those Sentinels didn't respond until they heard me get on Toothless, and all they eat is this fruit not because they could see it, but because they could smell it."

"Oh, they're blind," Fishlegs realized. "They must hunt using their other senses, hearing, smell."

"Yes," said Hiccup. "And they smell just like this stuff. If we cover ourselves and our dragons in this fruit we'll smell just like the Sentinels." And they did just that. Their first attempt didn't work since the fruit was very hard. But then the Twins started throwing them, and that worked better. They threw the fruit at each other and their dragons until the fruit ran out.

They were soon all covered in pink slime. It felt disgusting but smelled very sweet.

"Okay," said Hiccup. "This will only work if we act just like the Sentinels. Which means not talking and no firing." The riders got on their dragons and took off. The Sentinels followed them, but didn't try to stop them this time. They were just about to be home free, when they felt a strong pull towards the island. It was as though the island itself was pulling them back down. They fell back to the meadow where the tombs were.

"What's going on?" Hiccup called, to no one in particular. They landed in front of the giant boulder. They looked at the boulder, and suddenly the boulder was looking back at them with angry golden eyes. With a rumble and a roar the boulder morphed into a large dragon with green scales, blue wings, and gold horns, eyes, spines, and talons. He soared over the meadow and circled them. The dragon was enormous, almost as big as Red Death, and just angry. The riders knew who this was at once, Lord Draco.

He circled them once then landed on the wall above them, resting on the edge of his wings like Hookfang did. He glared at them. All the dragons, including the Sentinels, bowed low to him.

"Oh, leave it to you guys to figure out away passed my Sentinels," he hissed. "Give me a reason I shouldn't kill you all now."

"Ruff and Tuff ran off and came here, every since Mala told us about Vanaheim," Hiccup said. "We had to come after them. I was against coming out here from very beginning. I hold them time after time to not come here." Draco continued to glare at them.

"You have violated sacred ground," he roared. "I can not let this pass. I don't care what your excuse is."

"We're really sorry Draco," said Fishlegs. Draco hissed at him.

"Sorry you intruded, or sorry you got caught?" he asked bitterly.

"Sorry we intruded," said Hiccup. "We just want to go home." Draco narrowed his eyes. Suddenly he lunged at them, his jaws open wide.

"Wait, we can help defend this place," said Astrid. Draco paused, and snapped jaws shut. He looked at her.

"What did you say human?" he asked.

"If you let us go, we can help you keep this place safe from all the humans," Astrid clarified. "If we can find this place, then more hostile humans certainly can to. Your Sentinels can't defend against all of them." Draco held very still and thought about this.

"We can serve you like the Wingmaidens do," Fishlegs said. Draco lifted his head, and he seemed to relax a bit.

"You make a good point Ms. Astrid," he said. He looked at Hiccup. "You're willing to serve me and help keep Vanehiem a secret."

"It's the least we can do after we trespassed," Hiccup said.

"Do you promise to not tell anyone about this place?" Draco asked. "Not even your village?"

"Yes," said Hiccup. "You have our word." Draco heaved a huge sigh, then lifted his head higher.

"Sentinels, please escort Lavette to her accommodations," he said. The Sentinels took off and lead the Eruptadon away. Draco looked back down at the riders. "All right, since the Wingmaiden idea worked so well, I supposed I can let more humans serve me. I accept your offer. I will let you return, but only for the benefit of Vanahiem and not for your personal gain, and you must ask me first. Am I understood." They all nodded. "And I'm warning now, do not cross me again."

"Thank you Draco," said Hiccup.

"Now go before I change my mind," Draco snapped. The riders got on their dragons and took off. Draco allowed them to get passed the Sentinels. When they were clear of the island Draco spread his wings and followed them.

He followed them all the way back to the Edge, making sure none of them doubled back. Luckily no one did. Draco finally cooled down as the riders got farther and farther. As he cooled down, he reduced his size a bit so he was the same size as Re and Aurora.

It was late in the afternoon by the time they reached the Edge. Hiccup was eager to get back to his secret project, and apply the wisdom he'd gotten from Mala. The Draconians were already there. Draco found them at the top of the volcano. They looked up as Draco landed beside them.

"Father, you're here," said Aurora happily. She nuzzled him, and he nuzzled her back.

"Did the riders come back too?" asked Tenor. "You didn't kill them did you?"

"No," Draco said. "Killing them would solve nothing, but I am going to teach them a very hard lesson. They have offered to help keep Vanahiem a secret, and I've excepted."

"I love it when you let humans help you," said Aurora. "It shows you have an open mind." Draco smiled.

"Yes, I enjoy thinking outside the box," he said. "I like being different from the human gods." He then looked back in the direction of his stars.

"You leaving already?" Aurora asked.

"I fear I must," Draco said. "I feel one of my soldiers is in jeopardy, and I must start making plans to protect him. I will be back, I promise."

"Thank you for not killing the riders," Tenor said.

"You're welcome," Draco said. He then took off and headed back to his kingdom. He suddenly dissolved into golden stardust, and vanished.


	6. Return of Thor Bonecrusher

Return of Thor Bonecrusher

Tenor sat on a cliff overlooking the docks. It was a sunny day, but breezy enough to keep from him from getting burned. He watched Snotlout and Hookfang fly by. Hookfang spotted a boat approaching the docks, and alerted Snotlout. Tenor spotted the boat as well. He flew down and landed on the pier, at the same time as Snotlout and Hookfang did. They watched the boat come to a stop. Two Outcasts, poorly disguised as women, came onto the pier.

"What are you Outcasts doing on Dragon's Edge?" asked Snotlout.

"It's Alvin," said one Outcast. "He's been captured by a group of bandits. We've tried everything to get him back."

"Since when does Alvin get captured?" asked Tenor. "Usually he's the one doing the capturing."

"We've paid ransom, after ransom," said the second Outcast. "But nothing's worked. We need a viking with the power, strength and charisma to take on those bandits. Someone like Thor Bonecrusher." He pointed up at Fishlegs high on a boardwalk. Snotlout, Hookfang, and Tenor exchanged a glance.

"You should go tell Hiccup," said Snotlout. Tenor took off and headed to Hiccup's hut. He landed on the porch, he could hear Hiccup muttering gibberish in frustration. Tenor knocked on the door. Hiccup fumbled around, then opened the door. He seemed a bit disappointed when he saw it wan't Astrid.

"Expecting someone else?" Tenor asked, amused.

"Oh, no not really," Hiccup said.

"What are you doing in there anyway?" Tenor asked.

"It's a, you know, a surprise," Hiccup said.

"Having any luck?" Tenor asked.

"Yeah, just a few set backs," Hiccup said.

"Is there a way I can help?" Tenor offered.

"No, I got it," said Hiccup. "Thanks though." Tenor reached for something in his pocket.

"I'll just leave you with this then," he said. "Little present from Serenity." He handed Hiccup a scroll of papers. "Oh, and a pair of Outcasts just stopped by and said Alvin's been capture. Snotlout wants to gather everyone at the clubhouse." Hiccup immediately put the scroll on his desk and got on Toothless. Tenor followed them to the clubhouse. The others were gathered there already. Snotlout told them what the two Outcasts had said. Needless to say, they were quite stunned, including Fishlegs.

"I know I couldn't believe it either," said Snotlout. "They must have heard about his heroic acts on Berk and are convinced that he's the only on who can go up against these bandits."

"They don't want our help?" asked Hiccup.

"No, they're pretty sure if the bandits see us they'll kill Alvin on the spot," said Snotlout.

"Well, if they need Thor Bonecrusher we should call on him right?" asked Fishlegs.

"No, that's way too dangerous," Hiccup said firmly.

"Besides, whatever happens to Thor Bonecrusher happens to you Fishlegs," Tenor pointed out.

"What you thinking I'm not brave enough?" asked Fishlegs, raising his voice.

"I'm saying you don't know Thore Bonecrusher," said Hiccup. "He completely took you over. Sure he was brave and awesome, but he was a bit too heroic and out of control. You're just not that guy in your core Fishlegs. We'll figure something else out, but no Thor Bonecrusher for now." Everyone disbursed and headed back to their huts. Tenor took off and waited for the sun to go down so he could hunt. He went into the stables and hung by his tail from a strong beam. He wrapped his wings himself and dozed off.

A little while latter he heard Snotlout and Fishlegs enter the stables. Fishlegs was asking more about Thor Bonecrusher.

"Meet me at my hut tonight, and I'll tell you everything," said Snotlout, excitedly. Fishlegs left and Snotlout went over to where Tenor was hanging. "Hey Tenor!" Tenor opened his wings and looked at him.

"Yea Snotlout?" he asked.

"I'm thinking of giving those Outcasts what they want," said Snotlout.

"Really?" Tenor said, yawning. "And I'm guessing you're doing without telling Hiccup."

"I'm so glad you're on board with this," said Snotlout. "We're meeting at hut tonight."

"Do I get to fight bad guys?" Tenor asked.

"You bet," said Snotlout.

"Then I'm sold," Tenor said. "I'll meet you after my hunt." With that he put his wings around himself again and went back to sleep. Snotlout left.

Tenor woke up some hours later and climbed down. He left the stables and took off. On his way to Snotlout's he caught himself a few seagulls to munch on. He landed in front of the hut with four seagulls and burned feathers off all of them. Inside he heard Snotlout filling Fishlegs in on Thor Bonecrusher. Fishlegs seemed really excited about it, and was impressed about all he'd done as Thor Bonecrusher. Tenor finished de-feathering the seagulls and brought them inside. Fishlegs was prancing on the spot.

"Oh, Tenor did you hear all the awesome stuff I did?" he asked. Tenor put the seagulls down.

"Err, yeah I was there," he pointed out.

"Right," said Fishlegs. Tenor speared a seagulls on his talons and stuffed it into his mouth whole.

"Thor's the best thing that ever happened to me," said Snotlout.

"Okay," said Fishlegs. "Let's say..."

"We hypnotize you?" said Snotlout. He picked up the nearest dangly thing, which happened to be Tenor's tail.

"Wait a minuet Snotlout," said Fishlegs. "Hiccup's right. I don't know Thor Bonecrusher. I don't remember anything about him. Shouldn't we get Gothi?"

"Come on, I got this," said Snotlout. "I know Thor better than that old bag."

"Oooh," Tenor said, his eyes popping. Snotlout held up Tenor's tail in front of Fishlegs.

"Whoa wait," said Fishlegs. "This time when you hypnotize me, can you add in that Thor loves Meatlug because it would kill me if I pushed her away again."

"Right," said Snotlout.

"And there should be an easier way to turn me back," said Fishlegs. "Like you clapping your hands three times or something."

"Three clappy, check," said Snotlout.

"And can you make me not as heroic as last time?" asked Fishlegs. "I think that's what really concerned Hiccup."

"Not as heroic," confirmed Snotlout. With that he dangled Tenor's tail in front of Fishlegs's eyes. Fishlegs watched it for a few seconds, then was out like a light. Snotlout was giddy with excitement.

"I'm looking forward to this," Tenor said, looking amused.

"Oh, me too," said Snotlout. "Now what did we agree to." He began passing.

"Can I have my tail back?" Tenor asked.

"Oh, yeah sorry," said Snotlout, letting go of the tail and Tenor wrapped it around his paws. Snotlout turned back to Fishlegs. He leaned in towards his ear. "We need you Thor Bonecrusher. We need you to be brave, strong, powerful, and charismatic." Tenor watched as Fishlegs's expression changed. Snotlout continued. "You shall love Meatlug, you shall wake when Snotlout claps three times, and you shall not be as heroic as last time. You shall be, what? anti heroic. Yeah anti heroic." He then snapped his fingers.

"Anti heroic?" Tenor barked. "What happened to just less heroic?" Before Snotlout could say anything, Thor Bonecrusher opened his eyes. He held himself taller than Fishlegs normally did and glanced around.

"Well hello," he said smugly. He looked at Meatlug, who wagged her tail happily. "It's good to see you. Meatlug, my love." Tenor just burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh," he giggled, and put his front paws over his face. "I'm sorry, but that voice just cracks me up." He turned and left the hut, still laughing. Snotlout and Thor Bonecrusher got on their dragons and took off. Tenor followed them towards Outcast Island. Tenor kept on laughing every time Thor talked.

They arrived at Outcast Island as the sun came up. Tenor circled overhead as Snotlout and Bonecrusher landed in the Outcast village. Bonecrusher began showing off for the Outcast, and they were easily impressed. Every time he said something Tenor just busted out laughing.

"You're right on time, there's another ransom due today," said one of the soldiers.

"What is this ransom these bandits ask of you?" asked Bonecrusher. The Outcasts wheeled over a cart piled high with fish.

"We tried giving them gold," said the first soldier. "But all they want is this Icetail Pike. It's rare and indigenous to Outcast Island." Tenor landed and sniffed at the fish.

"I don't see why," he said, finally quieting his laughing fit. "This fish doesn't taste that great."

"They won't tell us why they want it," said the soldier. "And it's the only one the ask for." Bonecrusher examine the fish as well.

"I have the perfect plan," he said sneering. Tenor took off again before his next laughing fit.

He circled overhead and watched them wheel the fish to the meeting point. He got over his latest laughing fit and landed on a ledge, staying out of sight. Two Outcast soldiers jumped into the pile of fish and Bonecrusher gave them instruction.

"Now remember," he said. "Don't come out until they take the fish to their holding station, then you jump out and fire into the sky." He backed up behind a rock and waited. Soon the bandits could be heard approaching. Bonecrusher went up to confront them. Tenor stayed quiet.

"It is as you asked," Bonecrusher said. "Icetail Pike in exchanged for the leader of Outcasts." He glanced around. "Where is Alvin, not with you I assume." Tenor got a terrible feeling that instantly cured yet another giggling fit.

"And who are you?" asked the lead bandit.

"I am the answer to your preyers," Bonecrusher boasted.

"And what preyers are those?" asked the lead bandit. Bonecrusher looked at the fish.

"Wait, I saw something moving under that fish pile," he roared. "And I saw this man planting it all." He pointed at Snotlout.

"Take him!" roared the lead bandit. The bandits instantly grabbed Snotlout. Then two other bandits pulled the fish off the two hidden Outcasts. Tenor knew he had to ask fast. He could do anything to Bonecrusher, since that would harm Fishlegs. He took off and dived at the bandits. He killed the one holding Snotlout. He then took off, carrying Snotlout in his talons. He flew away from Outcast Island. Hookfang caught up with them and Tenor put Snotlout in his saddle.

"What happened?" asked Hookfang.

"Bonecrusher double crossed him," Tenor said. Hookfang sighed.

"Anti heroic," he said. Tenor nodded. They flew faster and headed back to Dragon's Edge.

When they got there, Snotlout had the not so fun task of telling Hiccup what had happened. Tenor watched with the other dragons.

"When you hypnotized him what?" asked Hiccup.

"Well he wanted to still love Meatlug," said Snotlout timidly. "And he didn't want to not be as heroic as last time. So I made him not heroic."

"Excellent, then he can't get into that much trouble," said Hiccup.

"Actually," said Tenor. "I believe the term Snotlout used is; anti heroic."

"Yeah, that's actually what I said," Snotlout admitted.

"What!?" Hiccup roared. "Tenor what happened?"

"Well, Bonecrusher double crossed Snotlout and joined the bandits," Tenor said. "I couldn't do anything to Bonecrusher since I'd end up hurting Fishlegs. All I could do was fly Snotlout out of their. And they still have Alvin." Both Hiccup and Astrid groaned.

"So now we have to rescue both of them," said Astrid.

"Yeah," said Snotlout, still timid.

"Why didn't you stop this Tenor?" Hiccup asked. Tenor hung is head in shame.

"I honestly thought it would work," he said. "The bandits would never had seen it coming. Then Snotlout said anti heroic."

"I expect you to have a little better common cents then that Tenor," Hiccup said.

"Yes sir," Tenor said, with true remorse in his voice. The riders got on their dragons and took off.

They got back to Outcast Island as the stars and moon came out. Hiccup lead them towards the secret underwater tunnel. They dived into the water and into the tunnel. They arrived in the cave at the other end. It was empty, except for one lit torch. The dragons became uneasy.

"Wait I thought no one knew we were coming," said Astrid. Suddenly the bandits jumped out of hiding and fired at the dragons. Bonecrusher was seemed to be in command of the bandits. The riders flew in circles around the cave to avoid the arrows. Unfortunatly the circling became too much for Snotlout and Hookfang. They became so dizzy that they crashed to the ground. Bonecrusher sneered down at them. Snotlout tried to clap his hands, but was far too dizzy. None of the riders dared try to stop him, since Bonecrusher was still Fishlegs. So they had no choice but to watch Bonecrusher grab Snotlout and run off.

"Head for the water," Hiccup ordered. He spotted Hookfang trying to get passed the attacking bandits. "We'll come back for him later." Hookfang reluctantly stopped firing and followed the others back into the tunnel.

They returned to the Outcast village. Hiccup gave them an update, and was rewarded with cries of out rage.

"We want Alvin!" the demanded.

"We will get him out," Hiccup promised. "And defeat these bandits. But we need more time." At that moment Astrid came back from scouting the bandits. Stormfly landed and Astrid dismounted.

"We found them," she said. "They followed the tunnel to the other side of the island. It's accessible from the air. But how are we going to defeat someone who knows all of our tactics."

"And without killing him," Tenor added.

"We have to come up with something that Thor Bonecrusher won't see coming," said Hiccup.

"If you want to leave me out of the fight as punishment, I'll accept," Tenor said.

"No, we'll need all the help we can get," Hiccup said. "And I think you've learned your lesson." Tenor gave a small nod.

Hiccup flew to the bandits' hideout, carrying a whit flag. They spotted several bandits holding a tied up Snotlout. Toothless landed and Hiccup dismounted. Bonecrusher came out, his hands on his hips.

"I come in peace," Hiccup said. "And I even brought an offering." Meatlug came out from behind a rock. She ran to her rider, who seemed pleased to see her.

"Thank you," said Bonecrusher. "For bringing me the third hostage." Meatlug gasped.

"Actually, you only have two," said Astrid. She'd snuck up from behind and knocked out the bandits around Snotlout, and cut Snotlout free. Before Bonecrusher could do anything Toothless shot all the carts of Icetail Pike. They exploded and fish flew everywhere. The last cart exploded and sent Snotlout and Bonecrusher to the base of a cliff. At once Snotlout clapped his hands three times. Bonecrusher slowly got to his feet, facing away from Snotlout. Bonecrusher turned around.

"Snotlout," he cried happily, sounding like Fishlegs again. Snotlout beamed, ran and hugged his friend. But then Bonecrusher grabbed Snotlout and held a sword to his throat. Bonecrusher glared at the riders.

"You will leave this place, or I'll run him through," he threatened. The riders admitted defeated again, and flew away.

They gathered on a nearby cliff to come up with a new plan. They dismounted.

"What do we do now?" Astrid asked Hiccup.

"Firing on Thor Bonecrusher means firing on Fishlegs," Hiccup said.

"What if we can't snap him out of it?" asked Astrid. "He doesn't even know he's Fishlegs."

"Meatlug does," said Tuffnut, sneering.

"Tuffnut, Meatlug doesn't help us right now," Astrid said.

"Then should I just take her back to the Edge?" Tuff asked, pointing upwards. They looked up to see Meatlug flying towards them. She landed in front of Hiccup, with a scroll tied to her leg. Hiccup took it and read it. What is said surprised him.

"Well," he said. "Now we know what we have to do."

After getting more Icetail Pike they headed to the spot where Bonecrusher and the bandits were waiting. As the riders approached they saw Snotlout and Alvin being held.

"Hiccup I don't like just walking into this," said Astrid.

"They think they have the element of surprise," said Hiccup, grinning. "But it's the other way around." He threw her the scroll. She looked at it. It showed a map of the area, with red X's on it.

"This is where the lookout should be," said Hiccup.

"Hiccup, we don't even know who this came from," said Astrid.

"Yeah we do, it came from Meatlug," said Tenor. Astrid growled at him, and he shut his mouth. They came to a stop in front of the bandits.

"Wait for my mark," Hiccup said. But just then Snotlout opened his mouth.

"It's a trap!" he cried. At once archers came out from behind large boulders along the cliff walls, and fired at them.

"So much for the element of surprised," said Astrid. The riders got on their dragons and took off.

"Okay here we go guys," Hiccup said as loud as he could. "Give it all you got." And they attacked. The dragons fired at the bandits, making them scatter. Tenor killed a few of them with his deadly bite. The Twins shot a ring of fire around Snotlout, Bonecrusher, and Alvin. At once Bonecrusher ran at Snotlout with a sword. Suddenly Hookfang shot fire between Bonecrusher and Snotlout.

"Hookfang!" Fishlegs shouted in annoyance. Snotlout looked at him.

"Fishlegs!?" he cried happily.

"I'll explain later," said Fishlegs as he cut Snotlout's bonds. "Right now we need to get Alvin." Once Snotlout was loose he and Fishlegs ran over to Alvin. Before they could get to them several bandits attacked them. They fought them off. Fishlegs did some fighting moves that even impressed him. Soon all the bandits were defeated. Hiccup hovered over them.

"Fishlegs!?" he called. Both Snotlout and Fishlegs turned around, and Fishlegs gave him a thumbs up. He then went over and cut Alvin loose.

Down in the dungeon after the bandits had been locked up, the riders celebrated their victory. Snotlout went over to Fishlegs.

"So, did the clapping work or not?" he asked.

"Yes it did," said Fishlegs. "But if I had revealed that to them at the time they would have taken off with the fish and turned you and Alvin into shark feed."

"So it was Fishlegs and not Thor Bonecrusher that saved us?" Snotlout asked. "Did not see that one coming."

"Well it does prove I was wrong," Hiccup said, placing a hand on Fishlegs's shoulder. "Turns out you do have a bit of Thor Bonecrusher in your core."

"I'd like to think of it as the other way around," said Fishlegs. Hiccup spotted Astrid sitting beside Toothless, giving the pile of Icetail Pike a troubled look.

"What's up?" he asked her.

"I can't stop wondering what these hunters wanted with these fish," Astrid asked.

"Well, something tells me they didn't want it to eat," Tenor said, who was sitting nearby. Just then a silver Hermes Dragon flew in and landed in front of Tenor. He took off the scroll tied to the dragon's horn, and read it.

"Thank you, you are dismissed," he said. The Hermes Dragon nodded and left. Tenor got to his feet. "I have to go, Re calling a meeting." He spread his wings and took off.

He found Re and Aurora back on Dragon's Edge. They were on the rim of the volcano. Tenor landed beside them.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Re said.

"What's going on?" Tenor asked.

"I sense that trouble is brewing up again," said Aurora. "Worse then last time."

"And I'm not going to wait for Hiccup and the riders to take their time coming up with a plan," Re said. "We're going to take things into our own talons. My patience has worn too thin." Tenor looked confused.

"You mean go rogue?" he asked.

"You can call it whatever you want," Re said. "But we will no longer be working with these riders. These humans have caused too much damage to our kind, and I will not sit back at let it happen anymore." Tenor glared.

"I don't know if you've noticed," he said. "But dragons have caused quite a lot of damage themselves. The Red Death made dragons kill her human neighbors for three hundred years, and because of that many dragons and humans were killed. Humans think they're above us, and we think we're above them. But truth is no one's above anyone, we've all got our flaws and we've all got our perfections. Now you two can go rogue if you want, but you'll do it without me. I'm not letting these riders down." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"You're defending the humans?" Aurora asked. "Even though they've caused all this destruction and death?"

"Yeah," Tenor said. "Kind of like you guys did with that other human you got so attached to." Re flinched liked he been shot in the heart.

"Have it your way," he said angrily. "But I'm not letting anymore innocent dragons die at the hands of these hunters. Come on Aurora." He spread his wings and took off. Aurora gave Tenor as sad, disappointed look before following. But as they flew away, what Tenor said stayed in the back of their minds. Tenor flew back down to wait for the riders.


	7. Dawn of Distruction

Dawn of Destruction

Fishlegs wandered through the outpost with Meatlug looking for Hiccup. He went up to Hiccup's hut to see if he was in there, but he wasn't. Fishlegs spotted a piece of cloth covering something on Hiccup's workbench. Naturally, Fishlegs was curious about what was under it. He fought himself over seeing what secret project Hiccup had been working on. He was so focused on the mysterious items that he didn't hear Tenor land on the porch outside.

"What are you doing in here Fishlegs?" he asked, folding his wings. Fishlegs spun around.

"Oh, hey Tenor," he said sheepishly. "I was just looking for Hiccup."

"Sounded like you were arguing with someone?" Tenor asked.

"Yeah, with myself," said Fishlegs. "Do you know what's under here?"

"I have a theory," Tenor said. "But Hiccup said he wanted to tell you himself when it's finished. I'm not one to deny him that."

"Do you know where Hiccup is?" asked Fishlegs.

"Well, whenever he's not here working on his project he's hanging out with Astrid," Tenor said. "That's all he does these days. I think I heard them in arena few minuets ago."

"Thanks Tenor," Fishlegs said. He got on Meatlug and flew off. Tenor followed them.

Toothless and Stormfly sat in the arena watching there riders sparing. Hiccup's flaming sword blazed with each stroke. The two dragons were having a lot of fun just watching him.

"Man I'll never get tired of seeing those two together," Toothless said.

"Me too," said Stormfly. "I'm also glad we get to play a small part in their relationship."

"Yeah, Astrid would never have even looked at him if it weren't for me," Toothless said. Just then Tenor landed beside them.

"Hey Tenor," said Stormfly. "Are you okay? You look kind of sad." Tenor took a deep breath.

"It's how I naturally look," he said. "I guess I've been sad and alone for so long that it just stays on my face all the time now."

"I guess Re and Aurora going rogue didn't help much," said Toothless.

"No it didn't," Tenor said. "And Serenity's joined Draco's Wingmaidens, where does that leave me?"

"Well, I'm glad you're still here," said Stormfly passionately. "You're a great dragon, and a really good friend."

"I think you made the right choice by not going rogue," Toothless said. "I would hate to call you an enemy, since we're cousins." Tenor exhaled and laid down on the floor.

"Thanks," he said. "You're the closest thing I have to a blood relative."

"Same here," Toothless said. "I've never met another Night Fury in recent memory." Tenor turned back to watching the sparing match.

"So, who's winning?" he asked with a sigh.

"No one yet," said Stormfly. "Hiccup's really gotten good."

"The fiery sword probably helps some," Tenor said. "They spend more and more time together. I hope they don't forget about their other friends."

"I'm sure they won't," said Toothless. "Hiccup values all of his friends. Both human and dragon."

"So does Astrid," said Stormfly. "She may get annoyed with them at times, but she knows how important they are to the group."

"They're just like Re and Aurora started out," Tenor said, giving a small smile. "Spending every living moment with each other."

"Did they forget about you?" asked Stormfly.

"Well no," Tenor said. "They hardly ever saw me. I had just gone into hiding at the time. They tried everything to get me to come out."

"Do you miss them?" Stormfly asked.

"Well yeah I do," Tenor said. "But not enough to agree with what they're doing."

"They'll come back," Toothless said. "When they come to their senses." Just then Astrid won the sparing match.

"Well, that lasted longer than last time," said Stormfly.

"You think Hiccup will be able to beet her soon?" Toothless asked.

"Certainly not," said Stormfly. "Astrid's got more experience than he does." Just then Fishlegs called down to Hiccup.

"Hiccup, Trader Johann just arrived," he said.

"Hey great, where is he?" Hiccup asked very quickly.

"Er, down at the docks," said Fishlegs.

"Oh, I should go see what he wants," said Hiccup.

"I'll come too," said Astrid. They headed over to their dragons and mounted them. Tenor followed them, but at a distance.

Ever since Re and Aurora had gone rogue several weeks ago, Tenor felt even more alone then ever. Though he still had his Berkian friends, the family he'd known all his life was all but gone. He almost didn't want to return to Draconia and stay on Dragon's Edge for the rest of his life. It was the only place that had ever accepted him.

Tenor landed on the prow of Johann's ship. He listened to what they were talking about. Apparently Hiccup had ordered a special oil for his project but Johann couldn't get it. Hiccup seemed disappointed.

"But I did acquire this map that shows the location of the plant that holds the oil you require," Johann said. He handed Hiccup a scroll. Hiccup seemed satisfied.

"You mean you couldn't get this by yourself Johann?" Tenor asked. "How hard could it possibly be?" Johann spun around to face him.

"I unfortunately got into a fight with some natives, which made things harder," he said. Tenor gave him a suspicious glare. Just then the other riders and dragons landed at the docks. Fishlegs saw Hiccup looking at the map.

"What's that Hiccup?" he asked.

"It's a map to an island that has something I need," Hiccup said. Fishlegs just stared at him. Snotlout folded his arms.

"Looks like the happy couple are going on vacation, without us," he said.

The riders and dragons flew up to the stables where Hiccup and Astrid got their dragons ready to head to the island.

"Weren't we supposed to do the dragon senses tomorrow?" asked Fishlegs.

"Oh, yeah," Hiccup said. "I forgot about, sorry Fishleg. But we shouldn't be gone for more then a day, and the dragon's aren't going anywhere." Fishlegs's face fell.

"Don't blow us off," said Snotlout.

"I'm not blowing any one off," said Hiccup. "We'll be back in no time. Tenor, will you come as a precaution?" Tenor heaved a sigh.

"Okay," he said. "I'll spend the time hunting, so it'll keep me out of your way." The three dragons took off.

As they headed over the ocean, they failed to see the enormous squadron of Singetails flying through the dense cloud cover overhead. They were heading for the Edge.

They followed Hiccup's map towards the island. Tenor flew a small distance from the other two so they could be alone. It was a pretty quiet flight. He glanced at his empty saddle, missing Serenity's singing. He'd hardly ever gone a long flight without her. He caught a large salmon and pulled up beneath the other two dragons. Toothless and Stromfly watched him munch on the fish.

"He's so quiet," said Stormfly. "Usually he sings at the top of his voice."

"He must not be used to traveling without a rider," Toothless said. "Serenity sings a long with him. And now Re and Aurora have left him, he's on his own."

"I can hear you talking about me," Tenor said, as he popped the last of his fish into his mouth.

"Sorry Tenor," said Stormfly.

"It's okay," Tenor said. "I don't really care anymore." He flew down to catch another fish.

It took the whole day to reach this island. The three dragons landed on top of a cliff at the edge of a forest. Tenor ran off into the trees to look for food while Hiccup and Astrid looked for the plant they needed. Tenor trotted through the brush, looking for food. It helped distract him from his lonely life. Darkness fell, which made hunting easier for him. He spotted a bunch of boars roaming about. Tenor shot a plasma blast at the biggest one, killing it instantly. The other boars ran, but Tenor didn't feel like chasing them. He burned the fur off his kill, and cooked the meat. He then flew it back to the cliff where the others were. Hiccup had found the plant he was looking for. Tenor landed under a nearby tree with his catch. He listened to Hiccup and Astrid talking to each other while he ate.

However, about half way though his boar, Tenor lost his apatite which was unusual for him. He looked at Hiccup and Astrid as he chewed his current mouthful. He swallowed and laid down on his belly, putting his head on his front paws. He sat there for several minuets until Toothless and Stormfly came up beside him. Toothless spotted the half eaten boar.

"Are you going to finish that?" he asked.

"I'm not hungry," Tenor said.

"You're always hungry," said Stormfly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Physically yes," said Tenor. "But emotionally, no."

"Well, our riders are taking us on a moonlit flight," Toothless said.

"I remember when I took Serenity on flights like that," Tenor said. "She loved it. Well, I'm going to head back to the Edge. Check up on the others."

"Okay," Stormfly said. "Maybe fighting a few bad guys will make you feel better, helps Astrid a lot."

"Yeah, probably," Tenor said. He got to his feet and stretched. He glanced down at his half eaten boar. "I'll meet you guys back at the Edge." The two dragons rejoined their riders. Tenor finished his boar.

He stood on the edge of cliff and watched Hiccup and Astrid fly together amongst the stars. Tenor wished he had his own riders back, and missed her even more. When he couldn't take it anymore, he sighed and took off. He headed over the ocean, back towards Dragon's Edge. The stars and crescent moon shone down on him. For some reason Tenor found no comfort in them tonight, like they usually did. He looked up at Draco's stars.

"I'm so sorry my lord," he said. "I don't know what's wrong with me, and I feel as though I have failed you somehow." He sped up, eager to get back to the Edge.

High above in his glass palace, Draco watched Tenor fly over the sea. He felt so bad for him, but didn't regret creating him.

"Oh Tenor," he sighed. "I never intended for you to suffer this much." He changed the scene to watch Aurora and Re planning their attack on the hunters. Aurora planned to call on the Mountainback Dragons. Draco glared and started to come up with a punishment that would be effective, yet harmless. He decided to let things go until he came up with something. He switched the scene again. He now looked down at a large mountain in Asia. Dragons swarmed all over it, inside and out. They had only one human with them, which was his adopted grandson. Draco settled down in his throne to watch them.

Tenor watched the sun come up as he got closer to the Edge. When he was a few miles from the outpost, his powerful hearing picked up loud roars and explosions. Tenor focused on the horizon and saw smoke in the air over the island. He put on a burst of speed and soon saw Snotlout and the Twins fighting of a huge squadron of Singetails, all of which had humans on their backs. Tenor was stunned for a brief few seconds. Then he dove at several Flyers that were hot on Snotlout's and the Twins' tail. He managed to knock many of the Flyers off their mounts. The Singetails flew off the second they were free. Tenor killed another one with his bite. He then met up with Snotlout and the Twins next to a sea sack.

"Tenor, perfect timing," said Snotlout.

"Where's Fishlegs?" Tenor asked.

"We got separated," said Snotlout. "We woke up with these Singetails blasting our front doors. Where's Hiccup and Astrid?"

"Hopefully they're not far behind me," Tenor said. "I'll help you until they get here." Just then Meatlug joined them. She seemed panicked.

"Wasn't there a large viking on your back Meatlug?" asked Tuffnut, stupidly.

"Something must have happened to Fishlegs," said Snotlout. "We have to go find him." They turned around to see all the Flyers coming at them. "Tenor, do you think you can handle these guys while we look for Fishlegs?"

"I'll give you all the time I can," Tenor said. He sped towards the Flyers with his teeth armed and ready. The Singetails all fired at him, but he spun and zipped between the fireballs at high sped. He shot back at the Flyers with his purple fire. He charged the Flyers and killed several of them with his fire, claws and venom. As soon as a Singetail was free, they'd fly off. He was so fixated on fighting he didn't see Hiccup and Astrid arrive. Tenor pounced on one of the Singetails and slashed his claws across the human's throat, killing him instantly. The Singetail flew off like the others. Tenor got more violent; slashing, biting, and burning any Flyer he could reach. He managed to not kill any of the Singetails. The Flyers fought back with their weapons. Tenor got a few cuts, but ignored it. Then one of the Singetails fired at him, hitting him in the lower back. It hurt, but his armor prevented more serious injuries. Tenor ignored all the pain and kept on fighting.

Hiccup and the other riders tried to defend the Edge from the Flyers. Hiccup was beside himself with concern. He had no idea where these Flyers had come from. Then he flew passed a huge cloud of smoke. He spotted another Flyer hiding in the smoke. He rode a titan wing Singetail, with candy red scales. Hiccup recognized the man on its back; it was the bounty hunter that had captured Hiccup, and he had been at Viggo's dragon auction. He was now really kicking himself for not staying on the Edge when everyone had asked him to.

The Riders tried their best to defend the island, but the Flyers outnumbered them, and all the buildings were pretty much burnt to the ground. Even worst no one knew where Fishlegs was. Hiccup knew they couldn't hold much longer.

"Fall back!" he ordered. "Fall back!" The Riders reluctantly abandoned the fight and retreated. Meatlug followed them, worried sick about her rider. Luckily none of the Flyers chased them.

They landed on a sea stack a mile or so from the island. The Riders dismounted. Tenor was the only one not present. Hiccup looked through his spyglass back at the island. He spotted Tenor zipping about, downing several Flyers. Meatlug gave a worried gurgle Hiccup put his spyglass down.

"We'll get him back," he assured her.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Snotlout angrily. "Those guys are everywhere, and they're trained. But you couldn't have known that." Hiccup looked sheepish.

"Leave him alone," said Astrid.

"No Astrid," said Hiccup. "I deserve this. We should have been here. They practicaly begged us to stay."

"That's pushing it a bit," said Snotlout.

"Well we're back now," said Astrid. "That's what matters." Just then they heard a loud roar coming their way. They looked to see Tenor barreling towards them. He circled the sea stack once, then landed beside the others. He looked terrible. He was panting heavily. There were dark patches all over his scales and armor. He had shallow cuts on his wing arms. Also his mouth was dripping with blood and venom. He walked a bit closer, leaving bloody paw prints.

"Tenor, are you okay?" asked Astrid, shocked.

"Yeah, just a winded," Tenor said, catching his breath.

"Did you see Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked. Tenor looked confused.

"I thought you guys were getting him," he said. "That's why I was plowing down those guys for you."

"Um, is that blood on your scales?" asked Astrid. Tenor glanced down at himself.

"Not all of it," he said. "Some of it's bruises." Hiccup went back to looking through his spyglass at the Flyers.

"You know there are ways of defeating an opponent without killing them," Astrid told Tenor.

"I used the techniques that I have practiced all throughout my life," Tenor said. "But next opportunity, you can show me, ways of defeating an opponent without killing them."

"Deal," said Astrid. "I do admire your bravery and endurance though."

"Same to you," Tenor said. "It's good to know that I do still have friends." Hiccup then lowered his spyglass.

"I have a pretty good idea of where Fishlegs is hiding," he said. "And I'm pretty sure he hasn't been captured yet." He looked over at Tenor. "Can you still fight?"

"Yes," Tenor said. "Just got my second wind."

"Okay," Hiccup said. "It'll be dark soon and Toothless owns the night. We'll have an tactical advantage over the Flyers. If we get separated, do not fight these guys. Retreat and head to Defenders of the Wing Island. We have to get Fishlegs first. Even if it means loosing the Edge." They all reluctantly agreed. "Tenor, you're half Night Fury. So will you...?"

"Back you up as you back them up?" Tenor finished for him. Hiccup nodded. "I will gladly." Hiccup then spotted Snotlout looking at him.

"What Snotlout?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Snotlout. "It's just, I'm glad you're back." Hiccup half smiled.

"I just hope I'm not too late," he said. The Riders mounted their dragons and waited for the sun to go down.

They took off when the sun vanished. Tenor flew beside Toothless as they headed back to the island.

"Hey can you try not to kill any of these Flyers?" Hiccup asked him. "Just knock them off their mounts."

"All right," Tenor said.

Hiccup watched several of the Flyers chase Astrid and Stormfly. through the trees. When they got too close, Toothless dived down and rammed one of the Flyers off his Singetail. Tenor followed and rammed knocked off two more.

"Good job Tenor," Hiccup said, making Tenor beam. "Go help the others look for Fishlegs." Tenor nodded and flew off.

He found the others flying low over the forest. Meatlug was in the lead keeping an ear out for her rider. Tenor joined them, and kept several Flyers off them. Suddenly Meatlug called over her shoulder.

"I hear Fishlegs," she said. "He's this way." Tenor translated for Snotlout and the Twins. They all followed the Gronckle. She led them to a hole in the side of a huge hill.

"Oh, I know this place," Meatlug said. "It's Stargvarg's cave."

"Who?" Tenor asked.

"I'll explained latter," said Meatlug. She dove into the hole, and the others followed. They found Fishlegs being held by two Flyers. A third one was approaching him with an ax. The Riders charged them, making them release Fishlegs. Tenor and Hookfang breathed fire at them, just to make them run. Tenor then spotted a white Night Terror in a corner. He assumed it was Stargvarg. He seemed winded but unharmed. As soon as Fishlegs mounted Meatlug, they all flew back out through the hole.

They met back up with Hiccup and Astrid. They turned and headed over the ocean. Hiccup glanced back at the burning outpost. The Flyers circled over it, their leader among them. Hiccup suddenly flipped Toothless around and flew back. He steered Toothless towards his hut, and ordered a plasma blast. Toothless hit the hut with one shot. They then flew back to the others.

They flew to Eruptadon Island. Hiccup explained to Queen Mala what had happened. She was very understanding and allowed them to stay for as long as they needed. She left them to to talk amongst themselves.

"I know I'll have to regain your guys' trust," Hiccup said humbly.

"Yeah you do," said Snotlout. "I was crushing it out there."

"You were indeed Snotlout," Hiccup said, smiling at him.

"So, do you want to address the big yak in the room?" asked Astrid. "Your hut, what was that about?"

"There were things in there that were too important," Hiccup said. "And I didn't want these Flyers getting their hands on it."

"You mean these?" asked Fishlegs. They turned to see him dump several items onto the floor. Hiccup recognized them as the pieces of his secret project. Fishlegs picked up the sheets of paper, that were the blueprints Serenity had sent.

"So when were you going to tell us you were making another Dragon Eye?" asked Fishlegs.

"When it was finished obviously," Tenor said. He then looked down at his blood stained scales. "I should got get this stuff off me." He spread his wings and took off.

Miles away one a different island, Re and Aurora got wind of the enslaved Singetails. They were making plans on taking them out. Aurora predicted that they would attack Berk.

"Have the Mountainbacks arrived?" Re asked.

"No, but they'll be here in time," Aurora said. "How do you plan on taking out these Flyers, we don't have Tenor's venom on our side." Re sighed.

"We may have to kill the Singetails, it might be the only way to free them all," he said. Aurora looked surprised, then sad.

"I hoped it wouldn't come to that," she said. "But if we must, just, make sure they don't suffer pain." Re nodded.

"We'll be sure to let the Mountainbacks know that as well," he said.

"I wish Tenor was here," said Aurora.

"With luck we'll meet up with him on Berk," Re said. "I'll try again to see if he'll come over to our side. This is so much harder without him." They sat down to wait for the Mountainback Dragons.


	8. The Wings of War pt 1

The Wings of War pt. 1

Re was woken one morning by Aurora. He yawned and lifted his head.

"Good morning," he said.

"The Mountainbacks are here," Aurora said. "They're outside." Re got to his feet and followed her out of the cave they were staying in. They came out onto a high ledge that overlooked the beach. Waiting for them was an enormous black dragon.

The dragon was as large as a small mountain. He walked on two thick legs like a Nadder and head a pair of long arms that were separate from his wings, that ended in claws as big as ballista spears. He had a large head with a thick, yet narrow, brick shaped snout. He had a large pair of twisted horns, surrounded by smaller horns. Each of his wings were the size of an adult Typhoomerang. Every inch of his body had thick muscles and hard, rough scales. All down is neck, back, and tail were spines that looked like mountain peaks. Behind each of his blue eyes was silver tear shaped scale, and line of silvery white scales ran along where his wing membrane connected with his body.

Circling the island were four other enormous dragons. One was pale, stoney grey, one the color of red brick, one eerie storm green, and one a sandy brown with pale blue grey spots on his wings. They were all massive, but the black one was the biggest.

"Hello Darkstalker," said Aurora. "I'm glad you came."

"We are thrilled to be here, fighting for our kind," Darkstalker said. He brought his head up to the ledge, which was as high as he was. "Allow me to introduce my crew." He let out a loud bark. One by one the Mountainbacks landed, and Darkstalker introduced each one. The tan one landed first.

"I am Cougar," he said. Next landed the green one.

"I am Thunder," he said. Next landed the brick colored one.

"I'm Bear," he said. And last came the grey one.

"And this is Diamond," said Darkstalker, proudly. "She's our only female."

"What is it you called us for?" Diamond asked.

"A squadron of Singetails have been taken over by evil humans," Re said. "They must be stopped, even if it means killing the Singetails."

"They have taken over a village called Dragon's Edge," Aurora explained. "They must be driven away, at all costs."

"They will be," said Cougar excitedly.

"I must also instruct you, only take out the ones on Singetails," said Aurora. "Don't touch the riders on other dragons, and don't harm the village."

"We will need time to plan this," Darkstalker said. "But we will be ready."

"Thank you," said Re. "We need time to plan as well." Darkstalker turned to his crew. Diamond turned to Re and Aurora.

"Wasn't there a third one?" she asked. "And a female human?"

"They aren't here," Aurora said. "They've gone their own way."

"I see," said Diamond. She turned to see her fellow Mountainbacks taking off. She took off after them.

On Eruptadon Island, Tenor was heading back from a night hunt. The sun came up as he landed in the village. He saw the Riders and their dragons sitting on a boardwalk looking exhausted. Hiccup and Toothless were not among them.

"Hey Tenor," said Snotlout.

"Hey, Hiccup not up yet?" Tenor asked.

"No," said Snotlout. Tenor picked up the large bird he'd caught. He spread his wings and flew to the top of a nearby building. He began munching on his bird when Hiccup and Toothless finally came out. Hiccup was not surprised to see all the riders bored and not doing anything. They looked up when he and Toothless approached. Astrid gave him a soft smile.

"So, should we talk about our next move?" she asked. "I'm thinking we should try to get the Edge back."

"If we can get it back," said Snotlout. "How many of those Flyers were there?" At that moment Mala and Throck came up to them.

"You will all have time to come up with the right corse of action," Mala said. "But for now you need rest. You are all mentally and physically exhausted. You are welcome to stay for as long as you need."

"Thank you Mala," Hiccup said. "You have no idea how much this means to us." Mala smiled at him as though she did have an idea how much it meant. She looked over at the other riders and dragons.

"Fishlegs, there is ore cash deep within the island," she said. Meatlug perked up and started drooling at this and Fishlegs flew her over there. Throck went up to the Twins.

"My queen has had me scouting the island," he said. "I've found some pristine locations, where one can set up a temporary boar pit."

"Boar pit," said Ruffnut glumly. "So last season."

"How about a lava pit?" Throck said. "Very hot, very dangerous." The Twins jumped to their feet, grinning mischievously. They followed Throck out of the village. Mala looked over at Snotlout.

"Er, Snotlout some of our younger warriors could do with some hand to hand combat training," she said. "But if you're too tired..."

"Ha!" said Snotlout. "I don't do tired, where are those little guys." He jumped on Hookfang and took off. Tenor watched from his perch, still gnawing on the bird. Hiccup smiled at Mala.

"Again, thank you Mala," he said. Mala looked at him.

"I have stood precisely where stand Hiccup," she said calmly. "When one leads, one is looked upon for all answers. Including ones that they themselves haven't yet answered."

"The key word being, yet," Astrid said, placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. Mala looked up at Tenor.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said. "Where's your dragon healer?"

"She's staying with a tribe of Wingmaidens," Tenor explained, with his mouth full. "She'll stay there until there's no more danger. I have no intention of telling her Re and Aurora have gone rogue, or about the Flyers." He crammed the last of the bird into his mouth and jumped to the ground.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the day?" asked Astrid. Tenor considered.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I might help around the place." He turned and trotted off.

He wandered around the village, and helped the Defenders with small chores. It helped distract him from all that had happened. He did miss is comrades, and his rider. Which made him determined to stop these Flyers, so they could go home. Tenor refused to go back to Draconia without any of them.

Later that day Tenor was hanging from a beam on a house, dozing off. He heard Hiccup, Astrid, and Mala approaching him. Tenor lifted his head as they came around the corner. They noticed him.

"Hey Tenor," said Hiccup. "We were talking about the Flyers, you saw them more then we did."

"I saw them," Tenor said, opening up is wings and letting them hang. "Prime example of animal cruelty, and the polite term for it." Mala looked at Hiccup.

"But I was under that you, and you alone could train dragons," she said.

"Those dragons aren't trained," said Astrid.

"They are being forced to carry the Flyers on their backs," said Hiccup.

"Like horses," Tenor added.

"Being forced to do their bidding," Mala said.

"Plus his whole plan hinges on the fact that he knows we won't hurt his dragons," Hiccup said. He sat down on the porch of the building Tenor was hanging from. "It's going to take something we've never done before to stop him."

"You'll come with it," Astrid said encouragingly.

"Thank you," Hiccup said. "And why do you think so?" Astrid sat next to him.

"Because Hiccup Haddock is the wisest, smartest, bravest dragon trainer in the world," she said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "And he always comes up with it." Hiccup smiled back at her. Tenor got down from the beam and stood beside Mala.

"You think your king and queen will come back?" Mala asked.

"I hope so," Tenor said. "It's been a bit lonely without'em. I've never broken off from them before. I hope Lord Draco doesn't scold me for this, he's really scary when he's mad." Mala was about to answer when Tenor's head shot up, and he growled.

"Hiccup, Singetails inbound," he said. Hiccup and Astrid jumped to their feet, just as several Flyers dove out of the sky and set everything on fire. Tenor followed the two riders as they met up with the others.

"On you're dragons," Hiccup ordered. The Riders mounted their dragons and took off. Tenor followed them.

"How did you know they were coming Tenor?" asked Astrid.

"I'm half Night Fury," Tenor said. "I have a sharp sense of hearing, and Singetails make quite a racket." He dodged one of the Singetails.

Hiccup watched in rage and horror as the Flyers burned everything to the ground. There was very little he could. He looked over at his fellow Riders.

"We have to lead them away from here," he called. "They came looking for us, and they'll follow us out of here." The Riders turned around and flew away from the island. The Flyers didn't follow them, yet.

The Riders flew to the island where the Screaming Death lived. It was dark by the time they reached it, so the Screaming Death was not around. The Riders landed on the beach. Tenor landed beside Barf and Belch, and something caught his attention.

"Why do you guys have Throck?" he asked, as Barf set Throck down.

"He got knocked by a landslide," said Belch. "Barf decided to bring him along, rather than leave him to the Singetails." Tenor looked impressed.

"That's cool," he said.

"Well, he pushed Ruffnut out of the way," Belch said.

"Shame I missed it," Tenor said. Just then Throck came round. He sat up confused.

"Where am I? What happened?" he asked, dazed.

"You got hit on the head, and I save you," said Ruffnut. Throck seemed surprised at this, and got to his feet.

"You saved me?" he asked.

"Yup, it was nothing," said Ruffnut. Throck suddenly got down on his knees and held his ax up to Ruffnut.

"I guess this means he's sticking with us for a while," Tenor said.

"Yup, I guess humans also know when they must repay a debt," said Belch.

"If dragons can be as bad as humans, then humans can be as good as dragons," Tenor said. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah it does," Belch said. Tenor smiled and went over to Hiccup and Astrid.

"I think we're safe here for now," said Hiccup. But then Tenor's ear twitched.

"I wouldn't be so sure," he said.

"You can't be serious," Hiccup said.

"I wish I wasn't," Tenor said. He took off, as the Flyer rained down on them for a third time. The Riders got back on their dragons and took off. The Flyers fired at them. Toothless shot a plasma blast at the nearest Flyer, but he pulled his Singetail up to block it. The blast hit the Singetail in the chest. Toothless went to fire again.

"Toothless no," Hiccup said. The Flyer fired back at them, and Toothless dodged it. They were about to get shot at again but Tenor interfered and blasted the Flyer off his Singetail. Astrid pulled Stormfly alongside Toothless.

"Thanks Tenor," Hiccup called, as Tenor flew off.

"Hiccup I know how you feel about killing dragons," Astrid said.

"We're not going to hurt these Singetails," said Hiccup. "Not if I can help it." He looked at the dense fog in front of him. "We'll fly into that fog. The Singetail will get spooked and won't follow us."

"Then what?" asked Snotlout.

"We go home to Berk," said Hiccup. The Riders seemed relieved to hear this. They flew into the fog as fast as they could. They lost sight of the Flyers and turned towards Berk. Toothless lead the way, and Tenor brought up the rear so no one got lost in the fog. The two nightly dragons communicated with their special sonar. Both Hiccup and Fishlegs couldn't help but be intrigued by this.

It took all night to reach Berk. The sun was well up when they landed in the plaza. They were all frazzled and worn out by now. Hiccup went up to the Great Hall and told Stoic what had happened.

"You did the right thing by coming home," said Stoic.

"It wasn't part of the plan," said Hiccup.

"Everyone looses a battle once in a while," said Stoic. "It's not the battle that counts, it's the war. And this one's just begun."

"Another war," Tenor said, who was standing beside Toothless. He rolled his shoulders. "Bring it on." Hiccup stood deep in thought as Stoic handed out assignments to Gobber, Sven, and Gustav. Spitelout left, on his own assignment. Hiccup and Stoic left the Great Hall and stood at the stop of the stairs. Stoic inhaled

"Ah, when those Singetials come a calling, Berk will give them an answer they won't see coming."

"You mean the Dragon Flyers," Hiccup said.

"What?" asked Stoic.

"Dad, it's not the Singetails' fault," said Hiccup. "They're forced by the Flyers to fight." Stoic looked him in the eye.

"Hiccup the minuet you separate one from the other, you're a dead man," he said. "We can't limit ourselves like that, or our people. The stakes are way too high. This is my territory now." He walked off, leaving Hiccup standing there.

Later Hiccup and Toothless flew around the village. They watched the Vikings preparing for a fight. The other Riders were in the old arena training to fight the Flyers. Hiccup hadn't seen the village like this since the days of the Red Death. He did not want to kill the Singetails, it wasn't who he was.

Unable to watch the preparations any longer, Hiccup flew Toothless over the ocean. He spotted Tenor zipping around the sea stacks, keeping his ears open for the Flyers. He didn't see Hiccup and Toothless since he was so focused on his task. He landed on a sea stack to save energy. He then began munching on a piece of prey he'd caught while on patrol. Hiccup landed on the other side of the sea stack and dismounted. Tenor looked up from what turned out to be a dead sheep.

"Hey Tenor," Hiccup said. "I hope you didn't steal that from the farmyards."

"No, I found it in the woods," Tenor said. "I don't steal from allies. Anyway, shouldn't you be training with the other Riders?" Hiccup looked at the ground.

"They're prepared to fight the Singetails," he said. "They see no way around hurting the dragons."

"You going to try to find an alternative?" Tenor asked.

"I don't want to hurt the Singetails for doing something they're being forced to do," Hiccup said.

"So are you sitting this one out?" Tenor asked.

"Until I come up with something, yes," Hiccup said. Tenor ripped off more meat.

"I'll help where I can," Tenor said. "I'm currently without a leader, so I must trust my instincts."

"Thanks Tenor," Hiccup said. He sat down on the edge of the sea stack. Tenor laid down and went back to his meal.

It didn't take long before Astrid and Stormfly to find them. They landed on the sea stack and Astrid dismounted. Hiccup spun around.

"How did you...?" he asked.

"What find you?" Astrid finished. "We may not live on Berk anymore, but I can spot a Hiccup-thinking sea stack anywhere in the Archipelago." She sat beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," said Hiccup.

"Well, I do," said Astrid. Hiccup saw her looking at him.

"Astrid, it's not the Singetails' faults," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They're being..."

"Made to do it," said Astrid. She put hand on his shoulder. "I know, we all know. But that doesn't change the fact that it's happening. They pushed us away from the Edge, they bullied us from island after island. It doesn't matter if it's the dragons or the Flyers." Hiccup just stared at her. "I don't want to hurt dragons either Hiccup. But in tough times, tough choices have to be made."

"Wow," said Hiccup. "You sound just like..."

"A warrior?" said Astrid.

"My father," Hiccup corrected.

"That's kind of the same thing," said Astrid.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Hiccup. Then he sat up straight. "You know what you're absolutely, positively right." He got to his feet and went over to Toothless.

"Okay," said Astrid. "So when we get back..."

"Whey you get back," Hiccup said firmly, as he mounted his dragon.

"What do you mean?" asked Astrid.

"Look I hear everything you and my dad are saying," Hiccup said, pinching his nose again. "And yes it makes sense. You have the warrior spirit Astrid. You have the guts for it, you have the stomach for it. I just don't and I refuse to be in charge of something I don't believe in." Toothless walked towards the edge of the sea stack.

"Wait where are you going?" asked Astrid.

"To find another way," said Hiccup. "Tenor, I may need your help." Tenor nodded.

"What if you can't?" asked Astrid. Hiccup said nothing and just took off. Tenor spread his wings and followed.

The sun set as they flew over the ocean. Toothless had a pretty good idea where they were going and didn't like it one bit. He glared and growled the whole way.

"So where are we going?" Tenor asked.

"I need to find out more about these Singetails," Hiccup said. "Do you remember the island where Spitelout first tried to to build an off site storage building?"

"No," said Tenor.

"Oh, I forgot it was Serenity that was with us at the time," said Hiccup.

"Oh, yeah she told me about that," Tenor said. "She said she got on really well with the Singetails."

"Well it's too late to go get her," said Hiccup.

"I don't want her to get involved with all this anyway," said Tenor. He then spotted an island ahead. "Is that it?"

"Yeah that's it," said Hiccup. He clicked the stirrup and they sped up.

They flew over the island. The stars were out by now and the island was very dark. They circled a burned storehouse. They didn't see any Singetails at the moment. Toothless glared over his wing at Hiccup.

"What's up with you cousin?" Tenor asked.

"I get why Hiccup's doing this," Toothless said. "But there are many wild Singetails on this island. Last time we were here, they almost burned us alive."

"Don't get them riled up then," Tenor said. They landed next to the storehouse. Hiccup dismounted. They walked into the woods, keeping their movements as quiet as possible. Tenor could hear Singetails in the distance. Suddenly a Monstrous Nightmare burst out of the shrubs in front of them. He looked startled, and didn't seem acknowledge the three in front of him. He scurried off. Tenor then heard something running through the bushes at them.

"Singetail, coming this way," he warned. Hiccup ducked behind a boulder. Tenor and Toothless covered him with their black wings. An orange Singetail came out of the bushes. He sniffed around, and continued running. Tenor and Toothless pulled their wings back and Hiccup got to his feet. He looked after the Singetail, and headed after it. Toothless growled in protest.

"Come one Bud you know we're going after it," said Hiccup. Toothless scowled.

"Why doesn't he listen to me?" he asked.

"Humans are a lot like dragons in many ways," Tenor said. "They don't listen to anybody. Come on." The followed Hiccup and the Singetail. They came to a stop at the edge of a clearing that had a pond in it. Hiccup and the two black dragons settled down to watch it.

"I think that's the guy we faced last time," Hiccup said.

"In that case, I believe Serenity said his name is Cingy," Tenor said. They just sat and watched the Singetail.

He didn't do much. He slept in the grass, got a drink from the pond, grazed on the bushes. He did all this for a good hour and a half. Hiccup almost fell asleep himself watching it.

"This thing is just like Snotlout," he said. "Sleep, eat, and drink."

"That's pretty typical of most dragons," Tenor said. "That's all I do in my free time, plus swimming at times." Hiccup watched the Singetail munch on the leaves of a bush.

"What's that he's eating?" he asked. Tenor looked to see what he was looking at.

"Oh, that's Dragon Brush," Tenor explained. "Dragons chew the leaves to keep their teeth healthy and white, or black in my case."

"You chew it?" Hiccup asked.

"It's crucial I chew it," Tenor said. "No one can do dental on me, it's too dangerous. I don't have to chew it as often as Re and Aurora do though, since my teeth retract." They then watched the Singetail curl up on the grass for another nap. Hiccup stood up.

"I'm going in," he said. Toothless scowled harder. He turned to Tenor.

"Will you cover us from the air?" he asked. Tenor nodded and slunk off to another clearing. He spread his wings and took off. He circled the pond and watched Hiccup approach the Singetail. The dragon jumped to his feet and growled, with a mouth full of fire. He prowled towards Hiccup.

"Please don't kill me, I'll never hear the end of it from my dragon," Hiccup said. Tenor snickered. The Singetail opened his mouth to fire. Toothless jumped out and tackled the bigger dragon. The Singetail shot a blast at Toothless, it hit him square in the chest. Toothless was sent flying several yards over the forest, and vanished. The Singetail then began snapping his jaws at Hiccup, who took off running. The Singetail gave chase. Tenor hovered in the air. He glanced back and forth between where Toothless landed and Hiccup, wondering which one he should go after. Making his decision, he sped off after Hiccup and the Singetail.

"Don't worry cousin, I'll come back for you," he called over his wing. He soon found the Singetail cornering Hiccup. Tenor went into a dive intending to grab Hiccup and fly him over to Toothless. The Singetail couldn't see him, due to his black scales, but he could hear him. He shot at tail blast, but Tenor dodged it. Tenor opened his talons to grab Hiccup, but he was suddenly yanked out of sight by something. Roaring in outrage, Tenor flew back up and circled the area.


	9. The Wings of War pt 2

The Wings of War pt. 2

Tenor flew over the forest, looking for Hiccup. He could soon hear him shouting in protest. He followed the sound and spotted Hiccup being dragged into a cave by Spitelout. Tenor circled the area, keeping an eye out for Singetails.

Hiccup was pulled into the cave and set against the wall. It was only now that he saw who it was. He was surprised to see Spitelout and his Nadder in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Hiccup asked.

"What are you doing here?" Spitelout asked back. Hiccup started to worry about Toothless. With him disabled he couldn't fly away from danger. Hiccup knew he would be okay for a while, but if he tried to take on several Singetails at once he would lose. Hiccup didn't know what Tenor would do, he hopped he would go find Toothless and get him out of danger. He paced up and down in front of the fire as he worried about it. He was suddenly aware of Spitelout watching him.

"I guess I should thank you for saving me out there," he said.

"Maybe you can return the favor by standing still for a moment," said Spitelout, a touch annoyed. "All that pacing is bothering me."

"Sorry," said Hiccup. "I'm worried about Toothless out there."

"Well if your missing your dragon, have a pet of mine," said Spitelout. "He won't mind." Hiccup stroked Spikelout, who squawked with pleasure.

"So, what's the deal with this place?" asked Hiccup, glancing around the cave which was filled with boxes of food and barrels of water. "You've got enough food to last a couple months."

"If you remember those angry blowtorches burned down my storehouse," said Spitelout angrily. "And nearly char boiled my son in the process. I've been watching them closely, one day I'll trap one of them. See how they like being trapped. A little Jorgenson revenge." Hiccup frowned. He was about to respond when he heard a Night Fury's roar outside. He ran outside followed by Spitelout and his Nadder. Hiccup looked up to see a black dragon flying towards them. He knew at once that it was only Tenor, since Toothless couldn't fly. Tenor landed and folded his wings.

"Tenor, did you see Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"No I haven't," Tenor said. "But I know how to find him. Hey Spitelout."

"We have to get to him," Hiccup said. "He's a sitting duck out there." Tenor gestured towards his saddle. Hiccup jumped on his back and Spitelout mounted his dragon. They took off. They two dragons flew low over the trees. They could see and hear Singetails all over the place. Tenor sent out a sonar signal and listened for a response. He ignored the conversation between Hiccup and Spitelout. He sent out more signals.

"Come on cousin, I know you can hear me," he said. Then he finally got an answer, followed by a distress signal.

"That's Toothless, he's in trouble," Hiccup said.

"Hang on," Tenor said. He sped towards the clearing he'd seen the signal come from. He spotted Toothless wrestling with a large and aggressive green Singetail. The were snarling and snapping their jaws at each other.

"Uh oh," said Spitelout.

"What?" asked Hiccup worried.

"Deathlout, your dragon got on the wrong side of Deathlout," said Spitelout. Hiccup watched Deathlout pin Toothless to the ground. Toothless clawed and struggled. Tenor shot a plasma blast at Deathlout's face. Toothless was able to get back up.

"Land in those bushes," said Hiccup. Tenor did so, and Spikelout landed beside him. Hiccup and Spitelout dismounted. "He have to break this up." Hiccup was about to run over, but Spitelout stopped.

"And how do you plan on doing that without getting burned alive?" asked Spitelout. "I know just what to do, and you get the easy part. You get as close as you can to your dragon, and I'll take care of the rest."

"How's that the easy part?" asked Hiccup. Spitelout shoved him towards the fight, right in front of the two dragons. Toothless and Deathlout paused and looked at him. Hiccup hurried over to his dragon. Deathlout was about to fire at them, but was hit in the snout by a rock. He shook himself and looked over at Spitelout, and ran after him.

"Huh, I guess I did have the easy part," Hiccup said. He got on Toothless and flew off. Tenor followed. They followed Spitelout and the Singetail from the air.

They flew back to Spitelout's cave. Tenor was about to swoop down and get Spitelout, when Deathlout was snapped up by a netter trap. Spitelout began dancing and gloating.

"That was pretty clever," Tenor said. He landed beside the Singetail and Hiccup landed beside Spitelout. Tenor circled the Singetail. Deathlout looked at him with a look Tenor knew all too well.

"What are you?" Deathlout asked, disgustedly. "You act like a dragon, but you don't look like one. Why are you here dirty filth?" Tenor ignored the insults.

"A few of your friends are attacking my friends with humans on their backs," he said. Deathlout stopped glaring.

"Oh, yes we heard about that," he said. "Those humans captured my fellow Singetails and enslaved them without mercy. They somehow even captured our alpha, Scorch."

"Is that the big red titan wing?" Tenor asked.

"Yes," said Deathlout.

"Well, we're hear to find a way to free them," Tenor said. He turned back to Hiccup and Spitelout. Spitlout was saddling up his Nadder.

"What are you doing?" asked Hiccup.

"I came here to trap a Singetail, and I've trapped one," said Spitelout. "Mission accomplished." He mounted Spikelout.

"Don't you want to stay and help me study this guy?" asked Hiccup. "This could be our only chance to find something to use against the Flyers." Spitelout considered.

"Well, I suppose," he said, and he got down. Hiccup went over to Deathlout, who hissed. He clearly wasn't happy about his current situation. He glared as Hiccup got closer.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Hiccup said. "I just want to get to know you." Deathlout opened his mouth wide and shot fire everywhere.

"That will be the signal fire," said Spitelout. "Now there will be plenty of Singetails for you to study." He mounted Spikelout and Hiccup got on Toothless. Tenor followed them into the air. At once Singetails flew at them from all sides, roaring in outrage.

"Well there's only one way to go now," said Spitelout. He steered Spikelout strait upwards.

"Follow that Nadder bud," said Hiccup. Toothless and Tenor followed Spikelout. They heard all the Singetails hot on their tails. But as they got higher, the Singetails let out a wine and flew back down. Hiccup pulled Toothless alongside Spikelout and Tenor.

"They must not be used to the altitude," said Hiccup.

"Aye," said Spitelout. "But they do love a good campfire." He pointed at the burning trees. Hiccup looked at the fire and at the Singetails.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. "I think I found what I came here for. Spitelout, Tenor, I'm going to need a favor." The Viking and dragon in question nodded.

Meanwhile; Re, Aurora, and the Mountainbacks hovered over Dragon's Edge. The Flyers were everywhere. The Draconians watched Stoic's ships and Berk's Dragon Riders approach the island. Re and Aurora were quick to notice that Hiccup, Toothless, and Tenor weren't among them.

"Where's Hiccup?" Aurora asked.

"He probably didn't want to participate," Re said. "He doesn't want to hurt the Singetails, he doesn't have the guts. He loves dragons a little too much." He watched the Flyers attack the Riders and ships.

"You think Tenor's with him?" asked Aurora.

"Most likely," Re said. "He chose that human over us." At that moment Darkstalker pulled up beside them.

"We are ready sire," he said.

"Attack the Flyers," said Aurora. "Do whatever you want to the humans, but don't let the Singetails suffer any pain."

"Slitting the throat will do the trick," said Bear, flexing his claws. "They will feel nothing."

"A blast of our fire will kill them quick and painlessly as well," said Cougar.

"Let's go," Re said. The Draconians dove out of the clouds. They ignored the Berkians, and charged at the Flyers. The Mountainbacks managed to down several Flyers with their claws and fire. They did kill a few Singetails. Re and Aurora pulled many Flyers off their Singetails. The Berkians were surprised to see the five enormous Mountainbacks flying out of the sky. They shook it off and rejoined the fight.

Back at Berk Hiccup and Toothless headed for the arena. Tenor and Spitelout stayed in the air with Deathlout. Hiccup landed in the arena, only to find it deserted.

"Hello!" he called. "Is anyone here!?" Just then Fanghook and Gustav landed in front of him.

"Gustav, where's the Riders?" Hiccup asked. "Your team?"

"They went to the Edge," said Gustav. "The chief wanted to launch an attack on the Flyers." Hiccup groaned and got back on Toothless. He and Gustav took off and flew back to Spitelout and Tenor.

"Guys we're taking this to the Edge," Hiccup said.

"Ok," said Tenor, who was clutching Deathlout in the netter trap.

"Can you carry Deathlout all the way to the Edge?" Hiccup asked him.

"Yes," said Tenor. "But just to the Edge. Let's go." Hiccup lead them back towards Dragon's Edge. On they way Hiccup filled Gustav in on his plan.

The battle over the Edge continued. For a few minuets the Berkians were gaining the upper hand with the Draconian's help. But then they spotted hundreds of Flyers heading for them. The Flyers overwhelmed the Riders. Re, Aurora, and the Mountainbacks downed a few of them. But the Mountainbacks found the Singetails a bit hard to catch. Re saw a Flyer coming at him. The human smacking his Singetail to go faster. Re flew at them with his claws and teeth at the ready. They were about to collide when the rider was knocked off his Singetail by a plasma blast. Re paused as the Singetail flew away. Another Flyer flew at them. Re charged at the Singetail, and was about to go for the throat; but Tenor shoved him out of the way and knocked the Flyer off the Singetail, which flew away. Re whirled on Tenor.

"Why would you stop me?" Re fumed.

"You were about to kill an innocent Singetail," Tenor said. "These Singetails don't deserve to be killed in cold blood."

"We are not killing them as punishment," Re said. "We're killing them to set them free."

"Still there's other ways of setting them free without wiping out their entire species," Tenor said.

"Are accusing me of genocide?" Re hissed.

"More like dragon slaughter," Tenor said. Just then Hiccup flew by on Toothless.

"Tenor, come on, we're nearly ready," Hiccup said.

"Right behind you boss," Tenor said. He gave Re a smug look. "Watch and learn your majesty." Re growled, his blue eyes blazed with anger. Tenor flew after Toothless.

They landed on a plateau near the Edge with Gustav. They found Spitelout setting the last of the plan. Deathlout was still stuck in the netter trap. He looked very grumpy.

"Spitelout, is everything ready?" Hiccup asked.

"Just a few more things to wrap up," said Spitelout.

"We're out of time," said Hiccup.

"Then why'd you bother asking?" said Spitelout, irritated. He went over to Deathlout. "Time to do your part dragon." Deathlout ejected fire from his belly. The flames lit up the forest, calling the other Singetails. Tenor looked to them flying towards them, the Flyers pulling the reins in vain.

"Here they come, like moths to a flame," he said.

"Okay, you ready to have some fun Tenor?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, yeah," Tenor said. They took off and flew at the Flyers, followed by Spitelout and Gustav. The Flyers were quick to chase after them. Tenor zipped through the trees with three Flyers on his tail.

"Come on you Dragon Flyer dogs!" he taunted over his wing. "I'm practically taking it easy on you." The Flyers sped up, and flew right into a netter trap that was strung between a few trees. The hunters were pulled off their saddles, and the Singetails abandoned them. Tenor circled the hunters, cackling.

"That was so easy it was sad," he said. He flew off to lure more Flyers into the traps. Hiccup, Spitelout, and Gustav were also luring Flyers into netter traps. The Singetails flew off once the hunters were off their backs. Tenor swooped down and cut Deathlout free. The green Singetail took off and joined his fellows.

"You're welcome!" Tenor called after him. When the Flyers were all trapped Tenor flew over to the Riders. He followed Stoic and Astrid as they headed for the outpost.

Meanwhile Hiccup had one last Flyer on his tail. Hiccup looked over his shoulder.

"Well there's no more traps Bud," he said. "Looks like we're going to have to take that shot after all. Lets just hope we hit the Flyer and not the dragon." He turned Toothless around and flew at the Flyer. When they were close enough, Toothless flew straight upwards. The Flyer chased them into the clouds. However the Singetail began wining as they got too high. No matter how hard the rider whipped him, the dragon did not go as high as Toothless and flew back down. Hiccup grinned over his shoulder.

"Singetails do not like altitude," he said. He flipped Toothless around and they dove at the Flyer. When they were in range, Toothless fired a shot that hit the Flyer. He was knocked off his Singetail, and the Singetail flew away. Hiccup pulled Toothless to a stop.

"Good shot Bud," he said, patting Toothless on the head. "Let's hope we never have to do that again." They flew off and headed back to the other Riders.

Tenor followed Astrid and Stoic as they neared the outpost. Stoic spotted the red titan wing Singetail on the runway with Krogan and someone else on its back.

"There!" he shouted pointing. The three of them sped up as the Singetail headed away from the outpost.

"Looks like there's some one with him," said Astrid.

"Well, lets go meet Krogan's new sidekick," boasted Stoic.

"Titan wings tend to be a lot slower," Tenor said. "That will give us an advantage." But as they got closer to the titan wing, it started shooting fireballs at them. The three dragons dodged them, but it slowed them down. Tenor tired firing back, but didn't make a single hit.

"Looks like he's a lot better than his men," said Astrid.

"But not better than us," said Stoic. They sped after Krogan, dodging fireballs and sea stacks. Suddenly one of the fireball hit Stoic, sending him and Skullcrusher spiraling towards the water. Astrid and Tenor didn't have time to go to his aid, and continued after Krogan. They soon left the sea stacks and headed right for a sheet of fog.

"We have to catch them before we loose them in that fog cover," said Astrid. "We only have one shot at this, come on guys." They sped up. But as they got closer, they saw who the person was behind Krogan. It was Viggo, holding the Dragon Eye.

"What?" said Astrid, shocked.

"Viggo?" Tenor said. "That can't be, Re killed him."

"And he has the Dragon Eye," said Astrid.

"I'm so glad Serenity's somewhere safe," said Tenor. "Come on we're about to loose them." They sped after Krogan and Viggo. They were about to close the gap when the titan wing lifted his tail, exposing his belly and shot a huge plume of fire at them. It propelled the titan wing and its passengers into the fog and out of sight. Astrid pulled Stormfly to a stop, still in shock. Tenor pulled up beside them.

"What I wouldn't give to be at my titan wing level," Tenor said.

"Come on we need to tell Hiccup," said Astrid. "You can go on a head if you want."

"Are you sure?" Tenor asked. "I would hate to be the one that lost Hiccup's mate."

"I'm not his mate yet," said Astrid. "And I'll be fine, just go." Tenor hesitated, but then turned around. "Tenor wait." Astrid waved a hand at him. He looked over his wing at her. "Nice job out there." Tenor gave her a respectful smile.

"Very nice yourself Mrs. Astrid," he said. He trust his wings back and headed towards the Edge.

Re watched him from his perch on Darkstalker's head. He was till fuming about Tenor turning his back on him.

"Darkstalker, please escort my Queen back to our lair," he said. "I have one last thing to take care of."

"Yes sire," said Darkstalker. Re lifted off, and Darkstalker flew away. Re dove at Tenor at high speed. He rammed the black dragon out of the sky, and the crashed onto a near by sea stack. Re pinned Tenor to the ground.

"You dare to turn your back on me, for that human," Re spat with venom in his voice. "You traitor."

"Maybe you can't see it passed your arrogant snout," Tenor said, gasping since Re was putting pressure on his throat. "But Hiccup is starting to remind me of Chris. Chris would never have killed those Singetails in cold blood. It want to help Hiccup achieve his goals, since Chris never lived to achieve his." Re growled and pressed harder on Tenor's throat making him gag. He swung his tail around smacked Re in the head hard. This made Re loosen his grip, and Tenor was able to buck him off. Re hit the ground and bounced back on to his feet. He snarled and gnashed his teeth.

"Chris was just a boy," he snarled. "And so is Hiccup. He's too weak to understand what it takes to win a battle."

"He won that one," Tenor said. "He succeeded where you failed. He may not have the guts you do, but he has more of a brain." Re roared and pounced on him. Tenor jumped and met him in the middle. They collided, biting and clawing at each other. Re managed to cut off most of Tenor's armor. Tenor managed to toss him into a tree. Re hit the tree and fell to the ground. Winded he sat up. He saw the look of anger and disappointment on Tenor's face.

"Only a fool refers his dead son as, just a boy," Tenor said. He spread his wings to fly away.

"You're fired," Re growled. "I never want to see your face on Draconia again."

"Fine," Tenor said calmly. "There's nothing left for me there anyways." He took off and headed back to Dragon's Edge as the sun came up.

Astrid pulled up beside him as he got closer. She noticed his missing armor, and his troubled expression.

"Tenor what happened?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Tenor said. "I had a fight with Re. He's not real happy that I chose to help you guys and not him."

"I'm sorry," said Astrid.

"No, it's fine," Tenor said. "Let's go tell Hiccup about Viggo." They sped up and headed for the stables.

The damages were already being fixed. Astrid and Tenor landed on the runway. Hiccup beamed as Astrid dismounted.

"Astrid," he said happily. "I was getting worried."

"Well get ready to be more worried," said Astrid. "Tenor and I just saw something you're not going to believe." Hiccup called everyone to the clubhouse then turned to Tenor.

"Will you go grab my project from my hut and bring it?" he asked. "This might bring some hope, it's on my workbench." Tenor nodded and took off. He landed on Hiccup's porch and went inside. He went over to the workbench and found a small box with the Berk crest on it. He opened it to make sure it was what he was looking for. When he saw the project he was amazed.

"Wow," he whispered. "Hiccup you are a genius." He wrapped the item in a cloth and left the hut. He flew up to the clubhouse.

He landed on the boardwalk as Astrid was finishing up telling everyone about Viggo. All the Riders and vikings were shocked. Tenor placed the item on the water barrel, making sure it was still covered by the cloth. Hiccup was pacing up and down as he usually.

"You saw Viggo too Tenor?" asked Fishlegs. "With the Dragon Eye?"

"I did," said Tenor. "He's working with Krogan. He probably came back here to get the Dragon Eye." They all looked at Hiccup, who didn't seem to be as worried as the rest of them.

"Okay, yes Viggo is alive after all that's bad," he said. "And he has the Dragon Eye, that's also bad."

"Um, that's not very good news at all," said Fishlegs.

"But the good news is, Viggo thinks he has the only Dragon Eye," said Hiccup. This made everyone interested. Hiccup pulled the cloth off the item. It turned out to be another Dragon Eye. It had different colors than the original and it was decorated with the head of a Night Fury, with jade green eyes.

"It's almost finished," said Fishlegs excitedly. Hiccup picked the Dragon Eye up and showed everyone.

"It looks incredible," said Astrid.

"And when it's finished, this new Dragon Eye will do things the old one can only dream of," said Hiccup. He looked at Tenor. "I partially have your dragon healer to thank. Those blueprints she sent me, really helped." Tenor smiled.

"I'll give her your gratitude in my next letter," he said. He turned to go.

"Hey Tenor, what happened to your amor?" asked Snotlout. They all looked at him. Tenor heaved a sigh.

"I got in a fight with Re," he said. "He's very angry that chose to not follow him."

"Why didn't you?" asked Hiccup. "What did you fight about?" Tenor looked at him.

"He thinks you're too slow at coming up with a plan," he said. "And too soft in battle. I disagreed with him, and he fired me."

"What!" they all said at once.

"So you're not Prime Minister anymore?" asked Astrid.

"I'm not even a Draconian anymore," Tenor said. "He's banished me too."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Tenor," said Hiccup. "I'm sure he'll come to his senses once the Flyers are defeated for good."

"I'm sure he will too," said Tenor. "But until then, I'm without a home and without a leader."

"Well, I'm glad to have you on my team until Re takes you back," Hiccup said. Tenor smiled.

"Thank you," he said. "I only hope this all gets fixed without Serenity ever knowing about it. He yawned and shook his head. "I should get some sleep, restock my plasma blasts."

"Thanks for your help out there Tenor," said Hiccup. Tenor nodded once then took off. He headed for the stables, and a nap.


	10. No Dragon Left Behind

No Dragon Left Behind

Tenor was sitting on the porch of the clubhouse, listening to the Riders talk about getting the Edge back on its feet. He was waiting for orders and munching on a dead seagull while he waited. The other dragons approached him.

"Hey Tenor," said Stormfly.

"Hi," said Tenor, with his mouth full.

"Are they still talking?" asked Hookfang.

"They have a lot to talk about," said Tenor. "This place needs a lot of work." He went back to his seagull.

"How've you been?" asked Belch. "You've been very quiet since Re fired you."

"I'm just bored," Tenor said. "Nothing's happened since the Flyers attacked." Suddenly there came a loud siren wale that rang from the other side of the island. The dragons jumped slightly. Stormfly sighed.

"Not again Garf," she said.

"Sounds like he's doing better," Tenor said.

"Yeah, Astrid's been taking care of him," said Stormfly. "She's been sending letters to Serenity, asking her for advice."

"Why didn't she come back and take care of him herself?" asked Hookfang.

"Serenity's a Wingmaiden now," said Tenor. "She'll never come back here, not with those Flyers out there."

"Do you think she'll be a Wingmaiden forever?" asked Meatlug. "She seems very happy with them."

"A part of me hopes so," Tenor said. "She'll still be with dragons, and still serving her god. And she'll never find out that Re and Aurora have gone rogue and fired me." The riders came outside and mounted their dragons. Tenor stuffed the last of the seagull into his mouth. He spread his wings and followed the other dragons.

They flew over the forests, following the Death Song's cry. Stormfly took the lead. She'd become very fond of the young Death Song. They were now such good friends that Garf's siren song had no effect on Stormfly. Tenor saw the look of determination on her face.

"You've become very attached to that dragonet," he said.

"Yes," said Stormfly. "I used to think that different dragon species couldn't build such relationships. I've never heard of two different species becoming mates. Could you imagine the odd looking dragons that would come from that?"

"No, I can't," Tenor said sarcastically. Stormfly looked at hem.

"Sorry Tenor," she said. "I mean no offense to hybrid dragons." Tenor suddenly spotted Garf down bellow. He towered over Smidvarg, who was trapped in amber.

"Down there," Tenor said. He swooped down landed between the two dragons. Stormfly landed next to him and pushed Garf away.

"Garf stop," she ordered. Garf backed down at once. Astrid dismounted and Tenor released Smidvarg. Garf and Stormfly began chasing each other playfully.

"I hate to say it Hiccup, but this is getting too dangerous," said Fishlegs.

"I agree," said Hiccup as he stroked a traumatized Smidvarg. "He's now hunting like an adult Death Song."

"But it's not his fault," said Astrid. "He's just following his instincts."

"Unfortunately his instincts don't care about the safety of us or our dragons," said Hiccup. "I think it's time we find Garf a new home."

"Where though?" asked Tenor. "Melody Island is still under threat, and Draconia's too far away. How about Dragon Island?"

"Not a good idea," said Hiccup. "Death Songs eat other dragons, the dragons of Dragon Island will either kill him or chase him away."

"I know of a place," said Fishlegs. "It's near here and so far, safe from the Flyers."

"Where is it?" asked Hiccup.

"I'll have to double check my maps," said Fishlegs.

"We'll head out there tomorrow," said Hiccup. The riders got back on their dragons and took off.

They flew back to the outpost and split to their respective huts. Hiccup and Fishlegs headed for the clubhouse. Tenor headed for a cave near Astrid's hut that he'd made his own. It was small but cozy. The floor was littered with animal bones and bird feathers. He went to the back of the cave where he slept. Warmed the spot with his fire and laid down. Just then Astrid and Stormfly landed on the ledge outside, Garf landed beside them.

"Hey Tenor can Garf spend the night in here?" Astrid asked. "There's no room in my hut, and it's too dangerous to have him unsupervised." Tenor took a deep breath.

"Fine," he said. "I have to hunt tonight, but I can wait until he's asleep."

"Hey thanks friend," said Garf happily. He curled up on the stone.

"Is there a chance you could skip hunting tonight?" asked Astrid. "I don't want Garf left alone." Tenor narrowed his eyes.

"I'm fresh out of food," he said. "I ate my last seagull this morning."

"I'll bring you more food, if you do this for me," said Astrid.

"I am not the Red Death Astrid," said Tenor. "I catch my own food."

"Please Tenor, just for one night," said Astrid. Tenor sighed.

"All right," he said. "I'll do it for you Astrid."

"Thanks Tenor, I owe you one," said Astrid. She mounted Stormfly and took off. Garf watched Tenor make himself comfortable.

"You can hunt if you want to," Garf said. "I don't plan on going anywhere."

"No, once I make a promise, I keep it," Tenor said. "I'll hunt tomorrow." He laid his head down. "I haven't been asked to skip a night of hunting since Re and Aurora were raising a human child."

"They raised a human child?" Garf repeated. "That's unusual. Do they not have this human anymore?"

"No, he drowned in the ocean years ago," Tenor said. He closed his eyes.

"What about your human?" asked Garf. "Did they raise her too?"

"They did, but they didn't adopt her," Tenor said. "They took her in when her guardian dragon died."

"Oh, that must have been terrible," said Garf. "And she still lives with those Wingmaidens?"

"Yes," said Tenor. "She's going to stay there until the Flyers are defeated." He rolled onto his back and yawned.

"So she's not your rider anymore?" asked Garf.

"For the moment, no," Tenor said. "Any other questions?"

"What's your hunting method?" Garf asked. "Besides going at night."

"Sneak up on the prey, jump on it, then bite the neck," Tenor said. "My venom takes care of the rest."

"You have venom?" asked Garf, impressed. "What's that like?"

"Makes me very dangerous," said Tenor. "And I heard, that it makes me immune to the venom of some other dragons. But I bet that only comes when I reach my titan level. Are you going to miss Stormfly?"

"Yeah, It'll be hard without her," said Garf. "I'm so used to having her around to take care of me." Tenor yawned and rested his head on a flat rock.

"Perhaps it's about time you took care of Stormfly," he said. "She and Astrid did a lot for you, you should do something for them."

"I don't eat them," said Garf.

"That's a good start," said Tenor. "But remember these guys saved your life. My healer may have done the hard part for them, but they did all the rest by themselves."

"You're right," said Garf. "I hope I get my chance soon." He laid his head on his front paws, deep in thought. "Why can't I stay here again?"

"The riders don't want you eating the Night Terrors," Tenor explained. "They're good friends."

"I have to eat something," said Garf. "Fish doesn't sustain me much. How about that fat, brown chicken that's running all over the place."

"Trust me I've been tempted to eat that chicken myself," Tenor said. "But I find it too entertaining to eat." Garf yawned.

"Well I'll be able find food tomorrow," he said.

"Great, can you stop talking now?" Tenor asked. "You're making me hungry." He fell asleep a few minuets after that.

The next morning the riders and dragons gathered on the runway. Fishlegs brought his map of the are. Tenor arrived last with Garf in tow. They landed beside Stormfly.

"Thanks Tenor," said Astrid.

"You're welcome," Tenor said. His belly quivered from lack of food.

"We should get going," Hiccup said, mounting Toothless. "Fishlegs, you lead." The other riders got on their dragons and took off. Tenor flew at the back, near Astrid and Garf.

"How'd things go last night?" asked Astrid.

"It was fine," Tenor said. "But I really don't want to talk right now." Astrid didn't ask anymore questions.

They were soon approaching the island. Garf seemed excited to see it.

"I'm telling you guys, this place is perfect," said Fishlegs.

"What do you mean be perfect?" asked Astrid.

"It has a similar climate and vegetation to Melody island," said Fishlegs. "And there are no known hostile species."

"Hey here's a thought," said Hiccup, jokingly. "Why talk about, when we can walk about it." No one laughed.

"Nice effort though," Tenor said. They went in for landing.

They landed in the center of the island. Garf sniffed around and explored. He found several bushes with orange fruits. He remembered such fruits on his home island. They were quite filling and very sweet. He began munching them. The Riders watched him.

"I have to admit Fishlegs this place is perfect," said Astrid. "As much as I love the little guy, he's not so little anymore." Garf curled up on the grass with his fruit.

"Every dragon leaves the nest," said Tenor. "It's never easy at first."

"Well, I guess it's that time," Hiccup sighed. They went up to Garf one at a time, and said their goodbyes. Suddenly Tenor smelled something very strong. Hiccup noticed him sniffing the air.

"What's wrong Tenor?" he asked.

"I smell venom," Tenor said. "And it's not mine."

"How do you know?" Hiccup asked.

"My venom may be deadly, but I don't have nearly the amount I'm smelling," Tenor said. Hiccup mounted Toothless, and the other Riders mounted their dragons. Just then Hiccup heard a loud hissing sound. He turned to see a thick tail slither out of sight. The hissing grew louder and several giant, red snakes slithered angrily towards them. The dragons growled and the Riders all glared at Fishlegs.

"What?" he exclaimed. "Oh right, like I knew about the giant snakes." He rolled his eyes. But then one of the snakes flared it's right red wings.

"Those are not giant snakes," he said. "Their Slitherwing dragons."

"What are Slitherwings?" asked Snotlout panicking.

"They're poisonous," said Hiccup as Toothless took off. The Slitherwings hissed angrily and spat venom at the intruders. Stormfly guarded Garf who was badly overwhelmed.

"Don't touch their skin," said Fishlegs. "Or you'll be dead by the next moon." Tenor found himself surrounded by Slitherwings. He snarled and flashed his black teeth. The Slitherwings flinched. Tenor blasted himself out and headed over to the Riders. He spotted a Slitherwing about to strike Astrid. Tenor ran over and put himself between her and the Slitherwing. Astrid jumped into his saddle and Tenor flew up beside Toothless. Astrid spotted more Slitherwings attacking Garf and Stromfly. The two of them suddenly turned and ran into the trees. All the Slitherwings sped after them.

"Stormfly!" Astrid cried. The Riders all mounted their dragons and flew after the Slitherwings. They could hear a fight going on below, but couldn't see through the trees. Astrid got panicky. Tenor followed the sound to a different clearing where they found Stormfly incased in an amber cocoon. She was glancing around with a look of pure terror on her face. The other dragons landed and the Riders dismounted. They all looked around while Astrid ran to Stormfly. There was no sign of Garf or the Sliterwings. Hiccup pulled out Inferno and began cutting Stormfly free.

"I don't get it," said Fishlegs. "Garf is such and excellent shot, how could he miss the Slitherwings and hit Stormfly?" Soon the amber around Stromfly broke and she began running in circles squawking loudly. She seemed badly disoriented. Astrid tried to calm her, but had to keep dodging Stormfly's spiky tail. Tenor was sniffing around. He could still smell the Slitherwings' venom, but it was very faint now.

"Um, I think the Slitherwings took Garf," he said darkly. They all looked surprised, except Astrid who was still chasing Stormfly.

"But not before they poisoned my dragon," she cried. Tenor could see that she was close to tears.

Astrid kept trying in vain to calm her dragon. Stromfly kept running in circles, panicking. Astrid was getting desperate.

"Look at her eyes," she said to Hiccup, who was standing right next to her.

"She must be in shock, from the venom," he said quietly. Fishlegs pulled out his stat cards and thumbed through them, looking for his Slitherwing card. Astrid rushed over to him.

"Hurry Fishlegs," she said. This startled Fishlegs, and he dropped the cards.

"Astrid," he wined.

"Sorry Fishlegs," said Astrid. "I'm..."

"Scared I know," said Fishlegs. Tenor used his claws to carefully rake though the scattered cards. He found the card with the Slitherwing on it.

"Is this what you're looking for?" he asked.

"Yes!" exclaimed Fishlegs, taking it. "Thanks Tenor." He looked at it. "There isn't much on how the venom works. But there is an antidote. It's made up of angel fern root, pine sap, and ohhh..." His face fell.

"Let me guess Slitherwing venom," said Hiccup. Fishlegs nodded. Astrid went back to chasing Stormfly, but was having no luck. But suddenly Stormfly stopped and collapsed onto the ground. Tenor laid down beside her. Hiccup looked over at the other Riders.

"Fishlegs, you and the Twins find the ingredients for the antidote," he said. "Astrid, you stay with Stormfly. Tenor you stay here and keep an eye out for anymore Slitherwings, Snotlout, you and I are going to find Garf." Snotlout pouted. He and Hiccup got on their dragons and took off. Fishlegs and the Twins left to find the ingredients. Astrid sat on Stormfly's other side and stroked her beak.

It was quiet for several minuets. Tenor kept sniffing the air, looking for the smell of venom.

"I wish Serenity was here," Astrid said. "She would have the antidote."

"She has the cure for just about everything," Tenor said.

"I wish I hadn't given her such a hard time about her dragon friends," said Astrid.

"Don't worry about it Astrid," said Tenor softly. "She's had to suffer far worse." Just then Fishlegs and the Twins returned. Astrid jumped to her feet.

"Did you get the venom?" she asked. She quickly saw that they had all the other ingredients."

"No, these guys ruined out game," said Tuffnut sourly. Astrid glared at them. Then she ran into the woods, ignoring Fishlegs' protest. Tenor jumped to his feet and ran after her. He found her just as she found a large Slitherwing. She thrust her hand into its belly and extracted the venom. The Slitherwing hissed in pain. Astrid ran off, clutching the handful of venom. The Slitherwing chased after her. Unfortunately the venom was slowing Astrid down. The Slitherwing open its jaws. Tenor hurried over and got between Astrid and the wild dragon. The Slitherwing spat its venom and it hit Tenor right in the face. Tenor hissed and shot a plasma blast at the other dragon. The Slitherwing dodged it and roared in outraged. It lunged at Tenor, but Tenor slashed it across the face, getting more venom on him. The Slitherwing howled in pain and flew off. Tenor turned to see Astrid fall to the ground. Fishlegs and the Twins finally caught up. They crouched over Astrid, who had passed out. Fishlegs carefully put the venom in Astrid's hand into a flask. He quickly got to work making the antidote. Tenor carefully hoisted Astrid onto his shoulders. They went back to Stormfly. Fishlegs noticed the venom on Tenor's snout.

"Tenor, you've got some venom on you," he said. Tenor put a talon on his snout and sure enough it was covered in the sticky venom.

"Strange, I don't feel any different," he said.

"Maybe it doesn't effect you," Fishlegs suggested.

"I have heard that Blackfangs are immune to the venom of other dragons," said Tenor. "They said Blackfang venom is so powerful and acidic that it burns away the foreign venom. The venom not only serves as a weapon, but as a shield. I guess I don't have to be at my titan level." They reached Stormfly and Tenor set Astrid down near her. Stormfly seemed very concerned. Fishlegs finished up the antidote. He gave some to Astrid and some to Stormfly. Tenor shook the venom off his face. He sat back down beside Stormfly.

A few minuets later Astrid came round. She opened her eyes and sat up. Fishlegs and the Twins looked down at her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Take it easy Astrid," said Fishlegs, calmly. "The antidote it still working through you, you need to lay still."

"I'm fine," said Astrid. "How's Stormfly?" She got to her feet.

"It's very odd," said Fishlegs. "The antidote worked on you, but it doesn't seem to be working on her." They looked over at Stormfly, who hadn't moved. Astrid sat beside her. Stormfly croaked weakly. She seemed relieved that her rider was okay.

"Thanks for your help back there Tenor," Astrid said, fighting back tears.

"You're welcome Ms. Astrid," said Tenor humbly. He reached into a pouch on his saddle and pulled out Serenity's tearstained handkerchief. He handed it to Astrid, who accepted it gratefully.

"Why didn't the antidote work?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," said Fishlegs. "Dragon anatomy isn't so different from ours." Astrid quietly laid her head on Stormfly's snout. Tenor scooted closer to them.

"How come you're not covered in venom?" Astrid asked him.

"I've recently discovered that I'm immune to Slitherwing venom," Tenor said. "My own venom burns it away."

"Oh," said Astrid. Tenor then turned his attention to Stormfly. He suddenly began sniffing the air around her. He looked a touch confused.

"That's odd," he said. He got to his feet and circled Stormfly, still sniffing.

"What is?" asked Fishlegs.

"You say she got poisoned," said Tenor. "Yet, I don't smell any venom on her. Usually when someone gets poisoned, the cent of the venom would be all around them. Maybe the antidote didn't work on her, because she wasn't poisoned."

"But then why was she behaving like that?" asked Astrid. Tenor turned to the Nadder.

"Stormfly," he asked gently. "What happened in that clearing?" Stormfly sniffed.

"It was so horrible," she said, and Tenor translated. "We were outnumbered and surrounded. The Slitherwings were about to capture me. But Garf shot his amber at me, to shield me from their venom. Then he lead them away from me. The Slitherwings chased after him, and there was nothing I could do. Now he's gone, and Draco only knows what they're doing to him." She sobbed.

"So she wasn't poisoned at all," said Astrid.

"She was grieving the loss of Garf," said Fishlegs.

"The loss of her friend," said Astrid sadly. "Oh, I'm so sorry Stormfly. I know how you feel now."

"I'm sure Hiccup and Snotlout will find him," said Tenor.

"What if they can't," said Stormfly. "What if they don't find him in time." Tenor took a deep breath and stood at his full height.

"Well you can either sit there crying about it like a hatching," he said firmly. "Or you can get up and go help them." Stormfly sat up and looked him in the eye. Just then a loud siren wail rang through the air. They all looked in the direction of the sound. Stormfly jumped to her feet.

"That's Garf," said Astrid.

"We best go lend a wing," said Tenor. The Riders mounted their dragons and took off. Tenor followed them, and they followed Garf's call.

They found him, Hiccup, Snotlout, and their dragons in a deep cave, surrounded by all the Slitherwings. Stormfly roared and blasted white hot fire into a hole in the cave ceiling. The Slitherwings scattered, hissing in outrage. She and the other dragons landed in the cave and fought off the wild dragons. Tenor slashed his claws at them, and Stormfly shot more white hot flames at them.

"What is that?" asked Hiccup.

"That's her new thing, cool huh?" said Astrid, beaming. "Now lets get out of here." Hiccup and Snotlout mounted their dragons and took off with Garf in tow.

They left the cave and the Slitherwings. They gathered in formation as they left the island. Stormfly was happy again.

"I'm so glad you're okay Garf," she said. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Not this time," said Garf proudly.

"And thank you, for saving me," said Stormfly. Garf smiled.

"Think of it as payment for being there for me in my own darkest hour," he said. "That white flame though, what was that?"

"Must be an early stage of my titan wing," said Stormfly. "I've never met a titan wing Nadder, so I don't know. It's strange, one minuet I'm almost killed by a Death Song, and the next being saved by one."

"Maybe Lord Draco is slowly evolving our kind," said Garf. "So that instead of trying to kill each other, we help each other."

"Draco knows what's best for us," said Stormfly. Garf nodded in agreement.

They flew over the ocean towards another island. They soon found one that was similar to the one they'd just left minus the Slitherwings. They landed on its beach. Tenor scouted the island for any hostile species, and found none. He landed back on the beach.

"No hostile species this time," he reported. "And there's plenty of that orange fruit that the other island had."

"Thanks Tenor," said Astrid. They said their goodbyes to Garf again. Stormfly was last again. She and Garf nuzzled and embraced each other.

"I hope to see you again," said Stormfly.

"You will," said Garf. "I guarantee it." The Riders watched them.

"It must be hard for them to say goodbye," said Hiccup.

"It's not really goodbye," said Astrid cheerfully. "More like; see you later." She reached into her pocket and took out Serenity's handkerchief. She went over to Tenor and handed it back.

"Thanks Tenor," she said. Tenor scraped the Slitherwing venom of his talons and took it.

"You're welcome," he said.

"You must really miss her," said Astrid.

"Very much," said Tenor. "But it's too dangerous to bring her back now. I know she's safe where she is." Astrid went over to Stormfly and mounted up. The other Riders mounted their dragons and took off. Tenor put the handkerchief away and followed them. They headed back to the Edge.


	11. Snuffnut

Snuffnut

Dragon's Edge was currently swamped with a flock of Changewings. They were migrating and had stopped on the island to take a break. They lounged about watch the Riders and their dragons. They stayed out of each other's way and went on with their daily activities. They watched one of the Twins run about in full body paint with wooden wings strapped to his back. He kept jumping out at the other Riders, and spooking them.

Tenor was sitting in his cave. Suddenly he heard someone approaching his cave, it sounded like Tuffnut. Tenor paused and listened. It sounded like Tuffnut was planning to sneak up on him. Tenor chuckled and hid in the darkest corner of the cave. He wrapped himself up in his wings and blended in with the dark. Tuffnut slunk around the corner and jumped into the doorway. He expected to find an unsuspecting Tenor in there, startled. But all he saw were heaps of animal bones, bird feathers, and the pile of prey Tenor had caught each night. Suspicious, Tuffnut entered the cave and looked around. He turned around to face the entrance, turning his back on Tenor. The dragon slunk up behind Tuffnut. He then let out the loudest roar. Tuffnut was so startled that he jumped around and fell on his bottom. Tenor burst out laughing.

"That was too easy," he said gasping for air. He then pulled Tuffnut to his feet.

"Man I did not see that coming," said Tuffnut. "Nice Lokiing Tanster, we should totally talk sometime. You've got to show me your moves."

"Sure," Tenor said, rolling his eyes. "Now off you go." Tuffnut turned around and ran out of the cave. Tenor went back to the corner and laid down. He pulled a roasted seagull towards himself and began chewing it.

He lay there quietly. Then he heard the sound of a Nadder landing outside. Astrid came in and spotted all the animal bones.

"You know you're never going to get a mate with your place looking like this," she said.

"I don't think I'll get a mate period," Tenor said. "I'm too odd looking." Astrid gave him a hard look.

"Have you ever considered that maybe the problem wasn't the way you look?" she asked him. "Maybe it's your attitude or your actions?" Tenor looked at her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Well, you're always feeling sorry for yourself," said Astrid. "And you are a bit of show off." Tenor narrowed his eyes.

"Perhaps your right," he said, sadly.

"I don't say this to make you sad," said Astrid. Tenor took a deep breath.

"Very well," he said. "I'll try to not be such a show off." He yawned and stretched his wings. "I should get this cleaned up." He tossed the seagull back onto the pile, having lost interest in it. "After I take a walk." Astrid could still see that he was sad, but she didn't really blame him. He didn't have a whole lot left in his life; He'd lost his job, his home, his rider, and his two best friends.

Tenor left the cave and took off. He landed on the boardwalk and moseyed around the outpost. He watched the Changewings going about their lives. Astrid and Stormfly had flown back to the clubhouse where Hiccup, Fishlegs, and their dragons were lounging about. Changewings crawled all over the buildings.

Tenor was wandering through Fishlegs' topiaries when he spotted a ship entering the harbor. Had a black sail with an Eruptadon on it. Tenor spread his wings and flew down to see who had come. He circled the ship. There was only one occupant, which was Throck. Tenor swooped down and landed on the Eruptadon figurehead.

"Hello Throck," he said. "You seem far from home."

"Will you kindly let Hiccup know I've arrived?" Throck asked. Tenor nodded and took off again. He flew over the Changewings and landed outside the clubhouse.

"What do you need Tenor?" asked Hiccup.

"Throck is here," Tenor said. The Riders exchanged a curious glance. They hopped on their dragons and flew down to the docks, with Tenor following.

Down at the docks Throck was just pulling his boat in. He tossed his mooring line to Fishlegs who tied it to the dock.

"Throck, what brings you here?" asked Hiccup.

"I'm here to fulfill a debt," said Throck. "If you would kindly point me in the direction of Ruffnut Thorston." This shocked them. Throck jumped onto the pier. "I intend to pick her up off her feet."

"Don't you mean sweep her off her feet?" asked Hiccup.

"No, I will literally pick her up off her feet, put her over my shoulder, and take her back to my island," Throck explained. "Where I will make her my wife." For some reason this made Astrid loose her temper and rush at Throck with her ax over her head. Hiccup grabbed the ax and held her at bay.

"Fishlegs, I think this is your area of expertise," Hiccup said, grunting. He then escorted Astrid away trying to calm her down. Tenor took off and looked for something else to do.

He landed on top of the cliff and went back to wandering. He ignored the Changewings he passed. Suddenly he spotted Throck outside the Twins' front door with a big shrub in his hands. Fishlegs and Meatlug were hiding around the corner. Tenor glided down and landed next to Meatlug.

"What am I missing?" he asked in Dragontongue.

"Nothing yet," said Meatlug. "Throck's trying to win over Ruffnut." Tenor sat on his haunches to watch. The front door open and Throck shoved the shrub into Ruff's face. She was surprised and confused. Tuffnut was nowhere in sight. Throck recited a poem he'd made up. Ruffnut was moved by it.

"Hey don't you dragons recite poems to get a mate in Draconia?" Fishlegs asked.

"We sing songs," Tenor said. "I guess that's the same thing." Just then he heard Hiccup calling him.

"Tenor can you fetch my tool box?" he called. Tenor beamed at the opportunity to be helpful. He took off and headed for Hiccup's hut. He found the big tool box on the workbench and grabbed it. He then flew up to the clubhouse.

He found Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons lounging about in the clubhouse. Tenor landed and folded his wings. Hiccup had the Dragon Eye 2 on the table in pieces. Tenor put the tool box on the table next to the bits and pieces.

"Thanks Tenor," Hiccup said. Tenor then went over to his fellow dragons and sat by them.

"I like being kept busy," he said. "Makes me feel better."

"Is it more or less then what you did at home?" Toothless asked.

"Less," said Tenor. "If you exclude fighting the bad guys." He watched Hiccup pick at the Dragon Eye 2 and talk to Astrid. Just then Tuffnut entered the room. He told Hiccup and Astrid what had happened between Throck and Ruffnut.

"Born together, live together, die together," he said, wrapping it up. "Is that great or what? And you should have seen the soul crushed look on Throck's face."

"Wow, I never knew you'd do that to your own sister," said Astrid.

"Do what?" asked Tuffnut.

"Get in the way of her chance at happiness," said Astrid, handing Hiccup a piece of the Dragon Eye 2.

"If Ruffnut does have feelings for Throck," Hiccup said, not really looking up from his project. "It means she could be passing up a lifetime of love and happiness." He set the Dragon Eye done.

"And same goes for you," said Astrid. "Wouldn't you want to find the right viking girl and start a life of your own?"

"Of course," said Tuffnut.

"And how would you like it if Ruffnut got in the way of that?" asked Astrid.

"She wouldn't, she's too good a sister," said Tuffnut. Suddenly he looked shocked. "I'm a monster." He ran out of the room. Tenor turned to his fellow dragons.

"That didn't sound right to me," he said in Dragontongue. "It didn't sound like Tuffnut did anything really, except eavesdropping I guess."

"I think Hiccup and Astrid can guess that Tuffnut plans to get in the way," Toothless said. "And they're stopping it before it happens."

"I suppose," Tenor said. "Well I'm going back outside, I'll let you guys be." He got up and left. He didn't feel going back to his cave so he found some dragonbrush and began grazing it.

Tenor was lounging in the shade of tree, hanging by his tail, when Tuffnut came running up to him with Chicken at his heals.

"Hey Tenor, I require your assistance," said Tuff. Tenor lifted his head.

"Speak," he said strongly.

"I have come to the conclusion that Ruffnut will never take her chance at happiness as long as I walk this earth," Tuffnut said. "So, I'm going to fake my death." Tenor tilted his head.

"I suppose I could assist," he said. "I've faked my death myself before. Mind you it doesn't last long." He crawled down from the branch.

"First we need to find a Changwing," said Tuffnut. Tenor followed him back towards the outpost.

A few moments later a loud cry rang through the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and followed the sound. They all rounded a corner and found Tenor wrestling with a Changewing. They appeared to be fighting over a grey jacket that looked familiar. Chicken was clucking madly and flapping about. Ruffnut gasped.

"Those are Tuffnut's clothes," she said. "He never takes those off, and I mean never." The Riders exchanged shocked and disgusted looks. "The only time he would take them off, is..." Ruffnut gasped again. "The Changewing ate my baby brother." She ran at the two fighting dragons, roaring with rage. The Changewing saw her and dropped the vest. Tenor was knocked backwards. The Changewing roared and flew off. Tenor got to his feet, Tuff's jacket still clutched in his teeth. Hiccup looked at him.

"Tenor what happened?" he asked.

"I was going for one of my runs when I heard Tuffnut call out," Tenor lied. "I came running only to find that Changewing swallowing Tuffnut whole. I tried to save him but all I got was this." He held up the jacket. Toothless could tell at once that Tenor was lying. The Riders left, still dumfounded. Tenor glanced down at the chicken. She clucked smugly at him.

"Careful bird," Tenor said just as smugly. "You taste good." He scooped the chicken up in his talons and flew over to some bushes near the Twins's boar pit. He dropped the chicken into the bushes where Tuffnut was hiding. He then laid down on a flat rock and watched the Riders gather around the boar pit. Ruffnut read off Tuffnut's will.

Hiccup and Toothless spotted Tenor on the rocks. Tenor looked back at them, and gave a subtle gesture to the bushes where Tuffnut was hiding, because Tenor hated lying to Hiccup. Hiccup gave him an approving nod. Tenor felt better.

When Ruffnut finished, she left with Throck. When they were out of earshot Tenor took off and swooped over the bushes. He plucked Tuffnut out of the bushes, and flew him down to the other Riders. Tuffnut was dropped in front of Hiccup and Astrid. Tenor landed beside Toothless. They all looked down at Tuffnut, who had painted his face green. He looked up at them. Hiccup and Astrid didn't look surprised.

"Don't be alarmed mortals," Tuffnut said in a very fake spooky voice. "I am the spirit of Tuffnut."

"Tuff, we know you're not a ghost," said Hiccup.

"How do you know?" Tuffnut asked, waving his fingers in front of their face. Astrid punched him in the shoulder. Tenor laughed. "Okay fine I'm not dead, but you can not tell my sister that."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hiccup.

"If she wants to go with the Trock man then I want her to make that decision on her own," said Tuffnut. "You said it yourself, she deserves a lifetime of happiness. And if it means forever haunting the moors of Berk, then so be it."

"This the worst idea in the history of worst ideas," said Hiccup.

"Look just give me 24 hours," said Tuffnut. "That'll give them the time to find out if romance is in their future." Tenor shook himself.

"May I be excused?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you for telling me Tenor," Hiccup said. Tenor gave a short bow, and flew off.

Later that night Tenor was looking for prey near the shore. He soon spotted a wild sheep and dove at it. It ran but didn't get far. Tenor pinned it down and killed it with his venom. He then burned away the wool. He then picked it up in his talons and flew back to the outpost. He flew passed the Twins' hut and found Throck and Fishlegs outside it. He landed next to them, still clutching his kill. He heard Ruffnut banging around inside. Fishlegs spotted the dead sheep, he didn't recognize it at first.

"What is that?" he asked. Tenor held up the sheep.

"That, that's lunch," he said. "A perfectly cooked sheep." He clamped the sheep's hoof in his jaws and took off again.

He landed on the runway in front of the stables and dug into his meal. Just then the Changewing he'd wrestled with earlier came out of the stables. She spotted Tenor and went over.

"That was some impressive sparing today," she said. "It must take a lot of restraint to not bite an opponent with those teeth."

"It's not as hard as it used to be," Tenor said. "I pretty have control now." He ripped off a chunk of meat. "But when it comes to hunting, I let myself loose control, it allows me to get a more successful kill."

"I suppose hunting at night helps wth that too," the Changewing said. Tenor nodded.

"How long you guys staying for?" he asked.

"A few more days," said the Changewing. "We're refueling still."

"You liking it?" Tenor asked. The Changewing shrugged.

"It's fine," she said. "These humans aren't that much of a problem."

"They're harmless, most of the time," Tenor said. The Changewing yawned.

"I'm turing in," she said. "See you latter." She turned and went back into the stables. Tenor went back to his meat.

Ruffnut went passed him into the stables. A few minuets later the rest of the Riders, Throck and Toothless came running up.

"Tenor did Ruffnut come through here?" asked Hiccup.

"Yeah, why?" Tenor asked.

"We think she's going to kill the Changewing," said Astrid. Tenor followed them into the stables. They found Ruffnut crouched over a box, the Changewing was looking at her suspiciously.

"Ruffnut stop, killing that dragon won't bring Tuffnut back," said Astrid. Ruffnut looked at them.

"I would never kill this dragon," she said, holding up a paint brush. "My brother lives in him." Upon closer inspection, they saw that she had painted a picture of Tuffnut on the Changewing's chest.

"I thought you said to leave the Changewings alone," said Snotlout to Hiccup. "This looks like the opposite of that." Ruffnut went over to the Changewing, who turned invisible.

"I intend to make Snuffnut my partner," said Ruffnut. Tenor gave the Changewing a look of sympathy. She smiled gratefully back at him.

"You can go back to your lunch if you want to Tenor," Hiccup said. Tenor nodded and went outside. He picked his sheep back up and went to his cave. He stayed at the entrance and at his lunch. He went to sleep shortly afterwords.

The next morning he flew over the outpost getting the cramps out of his wings. He spotted Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Throck in Fishlegs' topiary garden. Meatlug and Hookfang were lounging nearby. Tenor swooped down and hovered over them.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked.

"We're doing topiaries," said Fishlelgs. "You can join us if you want." Tenor considered.

"No thanks Fishlegs," he said. "I'm not really the artsy type, especially with flammable things." He turned around and flew off.

He went past the stables where he heard Ruffnut talking to the Changewing who was being held in a stall. Tenor felt kind of bad for the Changewing. He sped off and soon spotted Hiccup and Toothless heading for the Twins' hut.

"Hey guys," Tenor said as he landed next to them.

"Hi Tenor," said Hiccup. "I'm going to talk some sense into Tuffnut, before this gets worse."

"I'll come too," Tenor said. "Since I kind of help start this mess."

"Thanks Tenor," Hiccup said as they continued walking. "I appreciate your honesty."

"Let's face it, I'm a terrible lier," Tenor said. They reached the Twins' hut and found Tuffnut talking to his pet chicken. Hiccup looked up at him with his arms crossed.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand," he said. "You need to tell Ruffnut you're alive before one of those Changewings really do eat someone."

"Be realistic Hiccup, dragons don't eat humans," Tenor said. Hiccup ignored him. Tuffnut jumped down from his hideout. He mounted Tenor, Hiccup got on Toothless and they headed for the stables. They suddenly saw several wild Changewings rip off roof shingles and Snuffnut charged out through the roof, with Throck on her back. The other Changewings bombarded them, and Snuffnut tried to buck off Throck. Toothless and Tenor flew into the stables and landed.

"What's going on?" Hiccup asked.

"Well Throck and Snuffnut had different opinions on his training," Ruff panicked. "And now all the Changewings are attacking Throck."

"Well that was pretty stupid," said Tuffnut. Ruffnut shrieked.

"Tenor, look out Tuffnut's ghost is here!" she shouted.

"Yeah and he keeps kicking me in the sides," Tenor said.

"I'm not a ghost, I'm just me," said Tuffnut dismounting.

"That's exactly what a ghost would say," said Ruffnut. While they argued Tenor, Hiccup, and Toothless looked up at the Changwings.

"Permission to engage," Tenor said.

"Granted, we'll be right behind you," Hiccup said. "Just keep them off Throck." Tenor took off and charged at the Changewings. Snuffnut was still trying to get Throck off. Soon the other Riders joined in.

"If we push them to the edge of the reef, they'll move onto the next island," said Hiccup. They began herding the Changewings away from the island. Tenor circled Snuffnut and Throck.

"Would you like some help?" Tenor asked the Changewing.

"Yes please," she said. But then she managed to throw Throck off her back. Tenor dived after him and caught him. Snuffnut joined the other Changewings and Tenor rejoined the Riders with Throck on his back. They all watched the Changewings. They turned invisible, but they noticed that Snuffnut couldn't cloak herself completely with the painting of Tuffnut on her chest. They all roared.

"Get that thing off her, she'll bring danger to the whole group," said the leader. At once they spat acid at Snuffnut. Her skin was acid proof, so it caused her no pain. But the paint wouldn't come off. Snuffnut panicked.

"They won't migrate with him unless he can fully cloak, it's too risky for them," said Fishlegs.

"That's a she, FYI," Tenor said. Just then the Twins rode forward on their Zippleback. They charged at Snuffnut and got her to chase them. They led her through the waterfall, and she flew right after them. They were out of sight for a few minuets. Then they came back out, soaking wet. The water washed the paint off of Snuffnut's scales and she could disappear completely. She flew back to her fellow Changewings and they seemed happy to have her back to normal. They all turned and flew away from the Edge.

The Riders landed and Tenor splashed into the water to cool off. He watched Throck pack up his ship and Ruffnut soon joined him.

"I've realized something," said Throck.

"What's that Throck?" asked Ruffnut.

"I realized that I can't separate you and Tuffnut," said Throck. Tenor dove underwater before he could hear anymore. He caught a few small fish until he needed to resurface. He came out of the water in time to see Throck's ship sailing away. Tuffnut came up beside his twin.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Ruffnut. "I feel kind of guilty though, poor guy."

"What do you mean?" Tuff asked.

"I was never going to go with him," Ruffnut assured him. Having heard enough, Tenor spread his wings and lifted off the water.

"Thanks for wrestling that Changewing for me," Tuffnut called up to him.

"That was your only freebe," Tenor said. "From now on I don't do anything without Hiccup's approval." He then headed back towards his cave.


	12. Search for Oswald and Chicken

Search for Oswald and Chicken

Tenor headed back to his cave from a midnight hunting trip. He landed on the ledge and headed inside. The floor was still littered with bird feathers and animal bones. He put his latest kill in the corner to save for later. He then left the cave and went for a walk.

He spotted Astrid, Snotlout, and the Twins outside the Twins' hut. The whole front yard was littered with furniture. Tenor went over to investigate.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Chicken's missing," said Ruffnut. Tuffnut was crawling on his knees. "You haven't seen her have you?"

"No I haven't," said Tenor.

"Maybe Chicken just needed some alone time," said Astrid.

"Chicken hates alone time," said Tuffnut. "Unless it's with me."

"Maybe she flew the coop," said Astrid, sounding amused. Tenor rolled his eyes. Just then Dagur and Sleuther landed next to the hut.

"Dagster!" Snotlout cried. Dagur growled and pinned him to a stack of crates.

"You know I hate nicknames, Snothat," he snapped.

"Nicknames are for buds, I thought we were buds," said Snotlout timidly. Dagur released him and turned to Astrid.

"I need to find Hiccup," he said.

"He's up in his hut," said Astrid. "Tenor'll show you." Tenor smiled politely. Dagur got back on his dragon and followed Tenor up to Hiccup's hut.

They landed on the porch where Toothless was dozing off. Dagur dismounted and went inside. Toothless looked up when the other two dragons joined him.

"Sleuther, good to see you," Toothless said, yawning. "What brings you and Dagur here?" Sleuther settled himself down.

"Well, Dagur and Heather have been looking for Oswald as you know," he said. "Unfortunately Heather has become too obsessed with the search, and she keeps getting us all into trouble. Dagur swiped Oswald's journal from Heather, and he wants Hiccup to figure out what it says."

"Hiccup is the best as puzzles," said Toothless. "You think Heather will get herself killed?"

"If we don't stop her yes," said Sleuther.

"Heather used to be so cool and smart," said Toothless.

"She just wants to find her father," Tenor said.

"But there's a lot of non suicidal ways to do that," said Sleuther. Both nightly dragons agreed. Just then Hiccup and Dagur came outside.

"Did you learn anything?" Tenor asked.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "Take a look at this." He handed a book to Tenor, opened to specific page. He looked at it. It showed a drawing of a dragon that looked a boulder class dragon. It had a piggish snout and large wings.

"That looks like one of Lord Draco's Sentinel Dragons," Tenor said. "I've heard about them."

"We think Oswald is on Vanahiem," said Hiccup. "And there's a good chance he's still there."

"I'd say so," said Tenor. "No one leaves Vanahiem, not even the Sentinels." Then a thought struck him. "You don't plan to go back there do you?"

"Yeah we do?" said Hiccup.

"Without Draco's permission?" asked Tenor. "He will kill you this time. He thinks humans are the last creatures in the world who deserve second chances."

"Well can you find a way to ask his permission?" Hiccup asked. Tenor sighed. He let out a loud call towards the sky. A minuet later a large, blue, green and gold Hermes Dragon landed on the ground in front of Tenor.

"I need you to tell your master that Hiccup has a question to ask him about Vanahiem," Tenor said. The Hermes Dragon looked at Hiccup.

"I will let him know at once," she said. She spread her wings and took off again.

"That one seemed bigger that ones I've seen before," said Hiccup.

"That was Draco's personal Hermes Dragon," said Tenor. "We only call her when we need Lord Draco to come to Earth. Now all we do is wait for him."

"I'll round up Fishlegs in the meantime," Hiccup said. "And fill him in." Tenor just nodded and took off back to his cave.

High in the Dragon's Heaven, Draco was sitting in his giant glass palace. He was looking at blueprints for his new project he wanted to get started on. He as also coming up with what to do about his daughter and her mate. Suddenly his Hermes Dragon landed in front of him.

"Excuse me Master, but the human called Hiccup wanted to ask you something about Vanahiem. I think he means to return," she said. Draco narrowed his eyes.

"Thank you, you are dismissed," he said. He spread his wings and took off, heading for Earth.

While everyone on the Edge waited for Draco, they saddled up their dragons. Hiccup told Fishlegs what he'd found in Oswald's journal. Fishlegs was beyond excited.

"So how far is it to this retirement island?" Dagur asked. Hiccup turned to him.

"Vanahiem is extremely secretive," he said. "You can not tell anyone about it."

"I'm good at keeping things to myself," said Dagur. Suddenly there came a loud thud on the roof. Everyone looked up to see Draco perched on the roof. He had changed his form slightly. He now had the body of a Monstrous Nightmare, and like a Monstrous Nightmare he crawled on the edge of his wings. He also had long wings, and a really thin neck, tail and snout. He slithered to the edge of the roof and looked down at Hiccup.

"What do you want to ask me Hiccup?" Draco asked, trying to not sound mad.

"Draco, do you know of a viking called Oswald the Agreeable?" Hiccup asked. Draco's golden eyes widened. He thought a moment.

"Oswald," he muttered, and repeated the name over and over. "Oh yes, I remember him. He got himself stuck on my island. He was one of the few humans who ever decided to serve me. What about him?" Hiccup pointed at Dagur.

"This is his son Dagur the Deranged," Hiccup said. "He and his sister Heather, are looking for him. I was hoping you'd give us permission to go to Vanahiem and look for him." Draco sighed, looking slightly irritated. He raised his golden eyes to the sky.

"I might as well," he said. "I know you're just going to do it anyway. Plus I can foresee that it would be better if I allowed at least one visit. And if you find him I might even tell you the story."

"Thank you Draco," said Hiccup. "We won't touch anything except what you tell us to." Draco gave a small smile. Just then Fishlegs came up to Hiccup with the journal.

"Hiccup look at this," he said, holding up the book. Hiccup looked at a sketch of what looked like the skull of an enormous dragon, with huge mammoth tusks.

"Never seen a dragon like that," said Hiccup.

"Vanahiem, it's full of mysteries and mythologies," said Fishlegs. "This is just a thread in the tapestry of its deep history." Draco hissed loudly, fixing his eyes on Fishlegs. He crawled down from the roof, not moving his gaze.

"I'll be watching that one," he said, pointing a claw at Fishlegs. Astrid landed Stormfly on the runway, followed by Tenor.

"Thank you for coming my lord," Tenor said. "I'm sorry if I turned my back on you."

"We'll worry about that another time," Draco said. Hiccup went over to Toothless.

"You ready Bud?" he asked. Toothless beamed. But then their attention was drawn to the Twins who were examining a row of chickens.

"So I take it Chicken is still missing," Hiccup said.

"She missed dinner last night," said Tuffnut. "She never misses a meal." Astrid spotted the undecided look on Hiccup's face.

"I'll stay behind," she volunteered. Hiccup smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you Astrid," he said.

"I'll stay too," said Tenor. "I'm not supposed to be on Vanahiem anyway." So Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Dagur mounted their dragons and took off. Draco followed them, swelling up to the size of a Boneknapper.

Draco led the way to Vanahiem. The humans talked amongst themselves, but he paid little mind to it. He passed the time by coming up with ideas for a new dragon sanctuary. He wanted it to be even harder for humans to find than Vanahiem. Deep in the ocean, or behind a massive waterfall. He also wondered if he should make it apart of Draconia, or make it completely separate. Then there was how it would look. Draco loved color and light, and wanted to combine the two.

Soon the island came into view. Draco spotted his Sentinels perched on the sea stacks below. The Elder Sentinel was perched higher than the others.

"Okay we're here," he said to the Riders.

"We'll search the place for Oswald, then cover ourselves in fruit," said Hiccup.

"Why?" asked Dagur.

"To escape," said Hiccup.

"So those statues are really dragons?" asked Dagur, staring down at the Sentinels as they flew over.

"Don't worry they won't bother us on the way in," said Fishlegs. "Maybe on the way out." But as they went in for landing, right towards the Sentinels, they sprang to life. Draco broke off from the group. The Sentinels didn't bother him, but barreled right towards the riders. They did a strong wing flap which knocked the Riders back.

"They remember our sent from last time," said Hiccup. "They know we're not sick dragons."

"They've adapted," said Fishlegs, excitedly. "So fascinating." Draco rolled his eyes. Then Hiccup spotted a flock of smaller dragons heading for the island. Toothless growled at them.

"I see them," said Hiccup. Draco looked at the small dragons as well. With a roar he flew at them. He knew that those dragons were trouble and chased them away while the Riders bullied their way passed the Sentinels.

Once the scavenger dragons were dealt with, Draco rejoined the Riders on the beach. The Sentinels flew off, looking for more of the scavenger dragons.

"Draco, why didn't you stop the Sentinels from attacking us?" asked Fishlegs.

"They were doing exactly what they were supposed to," Draco said. "I'm not going to scold them for doing their job. If you guys really want to help keep Vanahiem safe, you're just going to have to learn to get a long with them." He shook himself. "Now lets go find Oswald." He lead the way into the island.

Back on the Edge; Astrid, Snotlout, and the Twins were searching the place for Chicken. Tenor had decided to grab a snack before joining them. They searched the village first, but found nothing. They stumbled on Tenor on a cliff over his cave. He was eating something that looked like a dead chicken. Tuffnut howled.

"Tenor! What have you done!?" he yelled. Tenor looked up confused.

"What?" he asked. Astrid picked up the dead bird. "Hey! that's my snack."

"Why are you eating Chicken?" asked Tuffnut, close to tears.

"What is wrong with you Tenor?" asked Ruffnut, he hands on her hips. Tenor looked really confused and a little intimidated.

"That's not a chicken," he said in a small voice. Astrid held up the dead bird, to get a better look at it. Its feathers had been plucked and its head had been ripped off. It still had its wings though. Astrid now saw that the wings were way too long for a chicken. It also had webbed feet. It wasn't a chicken, just a sea gull.

"Oh, it's a sea gull," she said. "Sorry Tenor." She handed it back and Tenor went back to eating it.

"I'll search from the air when I'm done," he said, with his mouth full.

"Thanks Tenor," said Astrid. She and the others left and headed into the woods. Tenor finished his snack then took off.

He circled low over the forest. He kept all his eyes, ears, and nose open. He spotted the others on the ground with their dragons. They were walking though on foot. There was no sign of Chicken. Tenor used his predatory instincts, since he did eat chickens and it was the most useful tool he had.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"No, not yet," said Astrid. "Did you?"

"Nope," said Tenor. "I'm using my predatory hunting abilities. So she won't stay hidden for long." He flexed his claws.

"That's actually a good idea," said Stormfly. "As long as your not hunting for food." Tenor shook his head.

"If only there were a dragon who could track and loves chicken," said Ruffnut.

"Why Thor, would it be so hard to have created such a creature," cried Tuffnut. Astrid exchanged a glance with Stormfly.

"Tenor," said Stormfly. "Why don't we form a chicken hunting pact." Tenor's eyes brightened.

"Lets do," he said.

So they set off again. Stormfly sniffed the air for Chicken and ran on foot towards the sent. Tenor did the same from the air. It didn't take them long to find a trail and followed it farther into the woods. The smell of chicken was strong in the air. Stormfly followed it towards a small bush at the base of a tree. Tuffnut reached into the bush and pulled out a brown and white feather. They were on the right track.

On Vanahiem; Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Dagur wondered though the island. Draco followed them, sometimes on foot and sometimes from the air. The Sentinels kept circling overhead. Soon the group came out onto a beach, littered with a lot of boulders and driftwood.

"Trying to think positively here," said Dagur. "But I feel we're going around in circles."

"I found something," said Fishlegs, who was inspecting a piece of driftwood. Hiccup and Draco went over to him. All the driftwood was littered with small teeth. "I've never seen teeth like this, Sharp Class do you think?"

"There's more over here," said Hiccup, looking at another log. Toothless however, was paying closer to what was lining the beach. It was one of the spookiest things he'd ever seen. Toothless dew Hiccup's attention to it. Hiccup came over to see.

"Guys, look at this," he said. They hurried over to see the skeleton of the biggest dragon they'd ever seen. The massive skull was half buried in the sand. It's rips arched high over island, as high as a mountain. The skull itself looked almost like a human skull, with jagged teeth and a massive tusk.

"Oh, my, Thor," said Fishlegs in awe.

"Oh, my Thor is right," said Dagur. "Wait, what's he wright about?"

"That skull, it was in the journal," said Hiccup. "It means Oswald was here."

"And possibly still is," said Fishlegs. Hiccup looked over at Draco, who was looking at the skull with a look of respect, like an artist looking over an old masterpiece.

"Draco, what exactly is this?" Hiccup asked.

"It is an ancient creation," Draco said reverently yet excitedly. "One the most powerful dragons I ever made. The only dragon that's older than this dragon, apart from myself of course, is Shark. But this one is the certainly the biggest I ever made. I made them so big and so powerful, that they became my soldiers. And if you think this is impressive, just wait until you see a living one."

"You mean there are dragons like this still alive?" asked Fishlegs.

"Oh yeah," said Draco. "But there's only a few left."

"Where do they live?" asked Fishlegs. Draco sighed.

"I will say no more," he said. "It's best to discover this species on your own." Hiccup turned to Toothless.

"See what you can find Bud," he said. Toothless sent out a signal into the dragon skull's gaping mouth. The riders mounted their dragons and flew into the skeleton, which had fossilized into a dark tunnel. Draco followed, gliding below them. The skeleton was so big, that Draco didn't have to reduce his size. The deeper they went, the more mind boggled they became.

"Whatever this dragon was," said Hiccup. "It was bigger than the Red Death."

"Four times the size," said Draco.

"And it seems like it's been here for a very long time," said Fishlegs. They soon reached the end of the tunnel and came out into a forest that was growing beneath the big dragon's backbone and ribs. They all landed except for Draco, who flew on ahead.

"We must be getting close I can feel it," said Fishlegs. Suddenly they were surrounded by a pack of the small angry dragons Hiccup had seen earlier. They charged at the Riders, and shot small teeth at them. Fishlegs recognized the teeth.

"Hiccup these are the teeth from the beach," he said. "These dragons aren't sick."

"They're hunting," said Hiccup darkly. Draco heard the commotion and circled back around. He hovered over them. He gave his wings a powerful thrush, and blew the scavenger dragons away. When they were cleared Draco landed next to the Riders.

"Sorry about them," he said. "They're not supposed to come here unless a dragon actually dies. Anyway I think I've found what you're looking for." He looked over his shoulder and they followed his gaze. Through the trees they saw a wooden shelter, propped up against the cliff.

Back on the Edge Tenor followed Snotlout and the Twins as they followed Astrid and Stormfly . Tenor was the only one flying. Both he and Stormfly were following Chicken's sent. It was getting stronger. Tenor soon spotted Chicken in another clearing, and she seemed to be walking backwards.

"Found her!" Tenor called down. He sped towards the clearing and landed as the group entered it. Chicken was brushing away her tracks with her feathers.

"What's she up to?" asked Tuffnut. "Wait I taught her that trick, she's covering her tracks."

"Silly Chicken, don't you know doing that only covers your footprints," said Tenor. "But it doesn't cover you sent." Chicken dropped the feathers and took off running. They all ran after her. Tenor took off and followed from the air. They followed her right to the edge of a cliff. Tenor circled overhead. Tuffnut tried to get closer but Chicken jumped off the cliff. Tenor dove down, grabbed Chicken in his talons, and set her down on the beach below. Tuffnut looked over the side, and was quite surprised.

On Vanahiem Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Dagur looked at shelter. Draco was coiled around a nearby boulder.

"This wood," said Hiccup. "It was salvaged from a Berserker galleon."

"He was shipwrecked," said Dagur quietly. They approached the door. No one spoke, and just looked at it.

"So should we knock?" asked Fishlegs. Dagur went up to the door, looking very nervous. He raised his hand to knock, but stopped.

"Er, how about a snack before we go in," he said. "I'm feeling peckish." He backed up and turned around.

"Dagur, open the door," said Hiccup, firmly. Dagur took several deep breaths and walked back up to the door. He paused for several minuets, then opened the door. Draco crawled down from his perch. Dagur entered the shelter.

"Um, Daddy?" he said cautiously. But he got no answer and found the shelter empty.

As the sun went down Dagur set up a grave sight. He didn't speak the whole time. Hiccup felt bad for him. He stood between Toothless and Draco.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to loose a dad," Hiccup said. Draco looked a touch uncomfortable, like he knew something unfortunate that no one else did. "Draco did you know Oswald was here the whole time?"

"Yes I did," Draco said.

"Why didn't you say anything to Dagur or Heather?" asked Hiccup.

"Why didn't I tell Dagur the Deranged, that his father was on Vanahiem?" Draco asked wisely.

"Ah, yeah, fair enough," said Hiccup.

"I really don't trust Heather either," said Draco. "She's flipped back and forth between sides so many times. I worry she'll accidentally tell them where her father's final resting place is as well." Hiccup went over to Dagur as he was finishing up. He looked so devastated.

"It's all my fault," he said. "He was stranded Hiccup, he died here. All alone."

"You had no idea where he was," Hiccup said softly.

"I never sent a search party," said Dagur. "I mean I had a lot going back then, being evil and all. But I should have tried."

"You feel guilty," said Hiccup. "That's totally normal."

"I was a villain," said Dagur.

"No, you were a kid," said Hiccup. "A misunderstood, diabolical, slightly maniacal." Dagur shot him a look. "Yeah, ok you were a bad kid. But none of that matters now. He was your dad, he loved you no matter what."

"I guess we'll never know," said Dagur.

"Hey guys, you better take a look at this," said Fishlegs from inside the shelter. Dagur, Hiccup, Toothless, and Draco entered the shelter. Draco shrank small enough to fit. They looked to see what Fishlegs had found. He pointed to a drawing on the wall of the small dragons they'd encountered.

"You were right Hiccup, they're hunters," said Fishlegs. "Oswald called them Grim Gnashers."

"They feed on the sick dragons," said Hiccup, reading the writing above the drawings.

"Oswald would help the Sentinels drive them off," said Fishlegs to Dagur. "Your dad was a hero." Dagur blushed. Toothless sniffed about and his nose led him to a box tucked away on a high shelf. Toothless stood on his hind legs and clamped the box in his teeth. He pulled it down and tossed it to floor. It tipped over and a pair of scrolls spilled out. Dagur went over and picked them up.

"There's one for Heather, and one for me," he said, dumbstruck.

On the Edge the Riders and dragons went to the base of the cliff. They found Chicken nest to a rooster, surrounded by a dozen chicks.

"So the mystery is solved," said Tenor. He sat on his haunches next to the other dragons.

"Do you think Hiccup and the others found Oswald?" asked Hookfang.

"Well, if anyone can navigate Vanahiem, is Draco," said Tenor. "They'll find him." Just then Tenor felt something pecking his tail. He looked down to see one of the chicks looking up at him.

"What are you looking at snack bite?" he said.

"You have to admit, it's kind of cute," said Stormfly. Tenor lowered his head to the chick's level.

"Yeah I suppose," he said. Astrid came over.

"Thanks for staying behind and helping," she said.

"It was fun, no thank you necessary," Tenor said. "If I might be excused, I wish to write to Serenity about today."

"Sure," said Astrid. Tenor spread his wings and flew back to the outpost.

On Vanahiem, the group left the shelter. Draco swelled back up to the size of the Screaming Death. No one said anything for a while. Then Dagur looked at Draco.

"Can you tell me what happened here Draco?" he asked. Draco took a deep breath and stood at his full hight.

"Alright," he said. "Have a seat." All the Riders sat down next to their dragons. Draco settled down and wrapped his mighty wings around himself.

"I didn't know Oswald personally," he began. "But heard the Sentinels speak highly of him. He was shipwrecked here many years ago, and like any human he tried to escape but was stopped by the Sentinels. So he came to the conclusion that he was. stuck here and decided to live the rest of his life here. Eventually he learned to get along with the Sentinels and help them keep my island clean and safe. He became one of the few humans in the world to serve me. I appeared to him at the end of his life. Oswald told me he was worried about you and Heather, and wanted to make sure his village was safe. Now I already knew what the Berserkers were going to reek havoc across the Archipelago, and do terrible things to my kind. But Oswald had done my island a great service, and as a dragon I couldn't let this debt go unpaid. So since he helped my island, I would help his. I gave Berserker Island a great gift. One that keeps his island safe from my kind, and keeps my kind safe from Berserkers."

"What is it?" asked Dagur. Draco's widened.

"You mean you don't know?" he asked.

"No," said Dagur. "What is it?"

"Ahh, I shouldn't spoil it," Draco said, both mischievously and excitedly. "You will find it eventually and when you do, you dragon lovers will be in for a real treat."

"You said Oswald was only one of the few humans that serve you," said Hiccup. "Who are the others?"

"Well there's you guys," said Draco. "Serenity of course, the Defenders of the Wing, the Wingmaidens, then theres one more in the far east, and one more in the north."

"I appreciate you telling me this story," said Dagur.

"You're welcome," said Draco. "I know you didn't find what you were looking for. But I hope you at least found closure."

"I did," said Dagur. "Will you allow Heather to come here too, so she can get some closure?" Draco inhaled and looked up at the stars.

"I haven't decided yet," he exhaled. "Heather hasn't yet gained my trust." Draco go to his feet. "I will bid you good night, I have some brainstorming to do." He spread his wings and took off. He circled high over the island.

He spent the whole night coming up with a punishment for Re and Aurora. He came to the conclusion that they needed to be split up temporarily. With time apart it would give them a lot of time to think about what they were doing. He decided to put one in prison, and have one returned to Tenor and the riders. He circled the island for the rest of the night, as he thought it over.

As the sun came up Draco headed back to the campsite. He landed beside Hiccup and Toothless. Dagur was up on a man made ledge, reading Oswald's letter and Fishlegs was looking through the shelter.

"How are things going?" Draco asked.

"Good so far," said Hiccup. "We should be out of here soon."

"Very well," said Draco. Fishlegs came out with several scrolls and notebooks. Suddenly they heard a commotion from above. They looked up to see Dagur and Sleuther battling the Grim Gnashers. Fishlegs dropped his armload and mounted Meatlug, while Hiccup mounted Toothless.

"Will you help us Draco?" asked Hiccup.

"Not this time," said Draco. "I've done my part, you do yours." Hiccup and Fishlegs took off to help Dagur. Hiccup quickly spotted a grey Gronckle being bullied by the Gnashers. Hiccup and Fishlegs pulled their dragons alongside Sleuther.

"Dagur, you focus on the leader," said Hiccup. "Fishlegs, protect the Gronckle." Both Riders took off at once. Hiccup covered both of them. Dagur chased the lead Gnasher high into the clouds, away form his pact. Draco flew to the highest point so he could watch. But just as the Riders thought they'd claimed victory, the Gnashers regrouped, outnumbering the Riders.

"We need more dragon power," said Hiccup. But just as he was about to call Draco to help, the Sentinels joined the fight. The Riders didn't hesitate in helping the Sentinels fight off the Gnashers. With extra numbers the Riders managed to help the Sentinels drive the Gnashers far from island. Draco beamed. He flew down and picked up the bundle Fishlegs had dropped before lifting into the air again.

Hiccup watched the Gnashers fly away, then he looked up at the circling Sentinels.

"Hey guys I'm thinking it's time for us to go," he said. Dagur looked back down at Oswald's shelter.

"I think you're right Hiccup," he said. They turned to head out, but were suddenly surrounded by the Sentinels. They looked down at the Riders, growling amongst themselves.

"Um, I'm thinking we should go back for the fruit," said Fishlegs. Hiccup looked into the milky eyes of the closest Sentinels.

"I don't think it'll work this time," he said. There was a moment of silence, then the Sentinels moved aside to let them pass.

"What are they doing?" asked Dagur. The Sentinels lowered their heads in gratitude.

"Looks like they're thanking us," said Hiccup. They slowly flew passed the Sentinels and headed towards where Draco was circling.

They left Vanahiem far behind. Draco flew beside them, singing softly to himself. He handed the bundle of notebooks back to Fishlegs. He was very excited.

"Oh, this is so great," he said. "Hundreds, and hundreds of fruit recipes." Dagur pulled out Heather's letter.

"I need to get this to Heather," he said happily.

"Well, maybe you can bring her back here," said Hiccup. "It seems like we've gained the Sentinels' trust."

"What do you say Draco?" Dagur asked. The Dragon God heaved a huge sigh. He thought for several long minuets.

"Well," he said slowly. "Perhaps I will allow Heather one visit. As long as you are willing to take responsibility for any conciseness that may occur as a result."

"Absolutely," said Fishlegs. "We would never let anything happen to Vanahiem." Draco sped a head and swung around to block them with is enormous wings. He gave them a diamond hard look.

"Swear it," he said, his voice dripping with venom. "Swear to me that Vanahiem will not fall under siege because of you."

"We swear," all three Riders said in unison.

"Good," said Draco, lightening up slightly. "Because if it does, my wrath will be unleashed." He swung back around and they continued. Fishlegs was looking through the notes, and found one that was very interesting.

"Um, Hiccup is this what I think it is?" he asked. He showed everyone what was on the paper. It was a pair of Dragon Eye lenses. Draco looked excited.

"It begins," he whispered.

"What does?" Hiccup asked.

"The Scavenger Hunt," Draco said. "One you must win, for all our sakes." He sped ahead before they could ask him further questions.

"Wait Draco!" Fishlegs called after him. Draco stopped and looked over his wing. "Will you stick around?"

"For a bit," said Draco. "I have some disciplining to do." He then flew off and turned invisible. The Riders head towards Berserker Island.


	13. Sins of the Past

Sins of the Past

Snotlout, Hookfang, and Tenor were flying towards the Northern Markets. The Twins had asked Snotlout to get chicken feed. Tenor volunteered to tag along; Hiccup hadn't returned from Vanahiem and Tenor was hoping to fight some bad guys.

"I can't believe we have to go to the Northern Market again," said Snotlout. "For chicken feed."

"Why doesn't that chicken find her own dam food," Tenor said. "Like everyone else on the island."

"Right, I'm so sick of that place," said Snotlout.

"Well I just hope there's some bad guys to fight," said Tenor. "Or some wild dragons to wrestle."

A few minuets later they landed at the market. Snotlout dismounted and walked through the stalls. Hookfang and Tenor followed him, not saying anything. Eventually Snotlout found a stall that was selling chicken feed. He went inside while the two dragons waited.

"Maybe this time we won't get attacked by the Flyers and everything will go smoothly," said Hookfang.

"Where's the fun in that?" said Tenor.

"You have live a sheltered life," said Hookfang. Tenor just shrugged. They went back to watching Snotlout look over the barrels of feed. The shopkeeper approached him. He held up a spoonful of bright yellow corn.

"Archipelago Gold," he said. "The finest chicken feed anywhere." The two dragons looked at each other. Snotlout reached into his coin pouch and pulled out one gold coin.

"Will this cover is?" he asked. The shopkeeper just glared at him, indicating the answer was no. "Tenor little help?"

"What do you want me to do?" Tenor said, flaring his wings. "I'm an outcast, I have no gold." So Snotlout was forced to give the gold coin, plus his belt and tunic.

He came out looking humiliated and carrying one bag of chicken feed. Both Tenor and Hookfang laughed.

"I know what you're thinking," Snotlout said. "I overpaid. But a quality viking requires quality feed." Then he changed his mind mid sentence. "Wait what am I doing. Why do I care how the Twins' chickens eat. This stuff is going back, I'm getting that cheep Berk crud, and they're going to live with it." He struggled to keep his pants up. Suddenly they heard a dragon overhead. They looked up to see Windshear approaching.

"What are they doing here?" asked Snotlout. Tenor looked closer.

"Looks like Heather and Trader Johann are here to do some shopping too," he said lightheartedly.

"She's still working with that oaf?" asked Hookfang. "Even though he keeps getting everyone in trouble."

"Well Johann claims to know a lot of stuff," said Tenor. "I guess Heather is willing to do anything to find Oswald."

"Tenor, why don't you go see what their up to," said Snotlout. Tenor took off at once, and followed Windshear at a distance. He followed them to the tavern and he landed in the shadows to watch. Heather entered the tavern with her hood up. Johann wandered off and Windshear waited. The sun began to set.

Tenor waited until it was darker before coming out of the shadows. He went up to Windshear, and nudged her. She turned to him.

"Tenor!" she cried happily. "Good to see you." She looked relieved to have another dragon around and stepped closer to him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tenor asked.

"Johann says he knows of someone who knows where Oswald is," said Windshear.

"And Heather fell for it?" asked Tenor. "Doesn't she know everyone lies and cheats here."

"That's what worries me," said Windshear. "Something bad's going to happen I just now it. I'm so glad you're here Tenor."

"Snotlout and Hookfang are here too," said Tenor.

"Are Hiccup and the others here too?" asked Windshear.

"No," said Tenor. "But they'll show up when trouble comes." Windshear relaxed a bit. "They're going to be in there a while I suppose." Tenor looked over at the tavern door.

"Lets go to the back door," said Windshear. "In case they try to sneak her out."

"I have a better idea," Tenor said. "Why don't we cover each door? You can cover one and I'll cover the other." Windshear considered.

"All right," she said. "I'll take the front door."

"Call for me if you need help," Tenor said. He snuck around the building where he could see the back door.

Soon the sun went down, and nothing happened. Johann watched from behind a cart. Just then Snotlout snuck up behind Johann.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" he asked. Johann jumped out of his skin.

"Master Snotlout please don't sneak up on a weary traveler," he said. "It might break an already weakened heart."

"Sorry Johann," said Snotlout. "Boo!" Johann drew back startled. "You're too easy. But seriously, what are you doing out here by yourself?"

"If you must know, I'm covering for Mis. Heather," said Johann. "She's inside doing a bit of business." They talked while they waited for Heather to come out. Windshear looked at Hookfang.

"It feels so nice to not be the only dragon present," she said.

"I think we've all been there," said Hookfang. "Where'd Tenor go?"

"He's watching the back door," said Windshear.

Tenor sat in the shrubs, his eyes fixed on the door. Eventually it opened and a man came out, followed by Heather. Tenor got to his feet and kept watching.

"I got to say," said Heather. "The feeling of my father's arms around me, it's indescribable."

"Yeah," the man agreed.

"I just hope he doesn't jab me with that rusty hook of his," said Heather.

"Yeah that hook's needed polishing since the day we met," said the man. Heather whipped out her ax.

"My father doesn't have a hook," she said darkly. Tenor chuckled.

"No, he doesn't," said a voice from above. They all turned to see Krogen and his Flyers perched on the roof, sneering down.

"Yes, now we're talkin'," Tenor said to himself, and made ready to pounce on the Flyers. They attacked Heather but she fought back. Tenor pounced on one that was about to attack Heather from behind. Heather managed to knock her opponent out.

"Tenor, good you're here," she said. Just then Krogen jumped down in front of them. He went into a fighting stance. Heather and Tenor followed suit.

"I got this Tenor, you cover my back," Heather said. She and Krogen attacked each other. Tenor defeated any Flyer who tried to attack from behind. He killed several with his venom. Heather was just barley able to stand her ground. But suddenly Krogen was blasted off his feet by Windshear. She landed with Johann clinging to her back.

"What took you so long?" Heather snapped as she mounted her dragon. Hookfang landed on another Flyer, knocking him out.

"Snotlout, what are you doing here?" asked Heather, then she laughed. "And what in Thor's name are you wearing."

"Don't ask," said Snotlout. The three dragons took off and left the Northern Market.

"Mis, Heather, I express my sincerest apologies," said Johann.

"It's okay Johann, he had me too," said Heather. "But we got away, that's what's important."

"Wanna bet," said Snotlout. He pointed behind them, at the Flyers that were hot on their tail. The Riders sped up, but so did the Flyers. The Singetails fired at them, making them scatter. The Riders flew erratically to avoid them. Tenor managed to knock several Flyers off their Singetails. Windshear flew so erratically that Trader Johann fell off. Hookfang grabbed him before he it the rocks. Tenor knocked off a few more Flyers. But he was having the most luck, everyone was just trying to avoid the Flyers. Suddenly Heather was knocked off her dragon. Hookfang dived after her. Johann managed to grab her after Snotlout ordered him to. Tenor spotted the Flyers scooping Windshear up in a net. He tried to rescue her, but ket getting blocked by the Singetails. Heather dangled from Johann, who was dangling from Hookfand looking like exhausted acrobats.

"Get me to my dragon," said Heather. Hookfang swung around to find Windshear, only to find her captured by the Flyers. Tenor couldn't even get close enough. He joined the Riders.

"It's no use, I can't get to her," he said, out of breath.

"We have to rescue her," said Heather, panicking.

"We can't," said Snotlout. "There's too many of them, and too many of us on Hookfang. We need to rest him and come up with a plan." Hookfang was looking tired.

"But we can't just leave her," said Heather.

"We won't," said Snotlout. "But the sooner we get this guy down and rested, the better it will be for Windshear."

"I can carry Heather," Tenor offered.

"You're out of plasma blasts Tenor," Snotlout pointed out.

"Please Tenor, I can't hold on anymore," Hookfang wined.

"Okay," Tenor said. So they swung around and head for the closest sea stack. Hookfang was falling faster and faster. Then his wings gave out from exhaustion and he couldn't hold himself up any longer. They fell towards the water. Tenor grabbed his tail and carried all four of them, clumsily down to the base of the sea stack. He set them down as carefully as he could, but they still ended up in a tangled ball. Tenor landed next to them.

"Thanks Tenor," Hookfang sighed. "You're pretty strong."

"It's my daily workout talking," Tenor said, rolling his shoulders.

"Dagur was right," said Heather, close to tears. "This obession to find my father has gone too far, and now it's cost me Windshear." Just then a fire blast hit the sea stack above their heads. They looked up to see Korgen hovering on his Singetail.

"I will make you this one time offer," Korgen shouted. "Your lives, and your dragons', for the Dragon Eye lens Heather keeps on her belt. You have one hour." He then flew away. Johann, Snotlout, and Tenor looked at Heather, and sure enough there was a Dragon Eye lens tied to her belt.

"Well I'll be," said Tenor, surprised.

"You have got to be kidding me," said Snotlout loudly. "You mean to tell me that things been there this whole time and no body saw it?"

"Yes it's been there the whole time," said Heather, just as loudly. "And no I didn't know it was a Dragon Eye lens." She took the lens off her belt. "My father gave this to me when I was little. I didn't know what it was."

"Perhaps Dagur got one too," Tenor said.

"If those Flyers want it so badly, we definitely can not give it to them," said Snotlout. "Right Tenor?" Tenor didn't answer right away. He picked up the lens and looked at it.

"Honestly, I think we should give it to them," he finally said. "It's just one lens. There's probably a bunch of these throughout the Archipelago, but there's only one Windshear. We can always get this later." Heather considered as Tenor handed the lens back to her.

"You're right Tenor," she said. She looked up at the sky, and said loudly. "Okay, we'll make the trade."

"You can ride me until you get Windshear back," Tenor said.

"Thanks Tenor," said Heather.

So when Hookfang got his second wind, Johann and Snotlout got on his back and Heather mounted Tenor. They took off and headed to where Krogen was waiting. Tenor landed on the sea stack on the other end.

"All right Korgen, where's my dragon?" Heather demanded.

"I'll need to see the lens first," said Krogen. Heather held up the lens. Krogen smirked and snapped his fingers. A Flyer approached, carrying a cage with Windshear. He set the cage down next to Krogen, and Krogen held up a key. Heather dismounted and went up to Krogen. She gave him the lens and he gave her the key. Krogen then got on his Singetail. He took off, and knocked the cage into the ocean. Heather dove in after it, the key clutched between her teeth. Tenor took off and hovered over the water, incase he had to dive in to rescue both of them.

Underwater Heather reached the cage. She tried to unlock the door, but it didn't work. Heather grew more scared now. Krogen had tricked her, and given her the wrong key. Windshear knew nothing could be done now. She kind of hoped on of the dragons above would come down and get them. But after several minuets and they didn't come, she began to give up hope. She tried to get Heather to go back to the surface, by gesturing with her head. But Heather didn't move. Windshear was both scared and touched by this. Then just as they were about to run out of air, a loud sonar call came towards them. The next thing they knew the cage was being lifted back towards the surface. They looked up to see Dagur on Sleuther, and Tenor pulling the cage up towards the light.

Soon they came out and were hovering over the water.

"Sis, what did I tell you about swimming this time of year," Dagur said playfully. Heather beamed. Toothless lasted the lock, and the cage door opened. Windshear flew out and Heather jumped onto her back. Sleuther and Tenor let the cage drop back into the water.

"Good riddance," Tenor said. Heather and Windshear looked around to see the Dagur, Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Astrid, and their dragons hovering around them.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Hiccup.

"We're fine," said Heather. "But we have to go after Krogen, he has my Dragon Eye lens."

"Your what?" said Hiccup.

"Apparently Heather had a Dragon Eye lens on her this whole time," said Tenor. "And non of us noticed it until Krogen pointed it out."

"How did we miss that?" asked Hiccup. "Never mind, we'll talk later." The Riders flew after Krogen.

They quickly caught up to the Flyers and launched an attack at once. Hiccup and Toothless dived at Krogen and fired at them. Krogen dropped the lens and it landed on a sea stack. Hiccup steered Toothless down to get it, but was blocked by the Singetails' blasts. Snotlout went into try and get it, while the other Riders distracted the Flyers. Hookfang swooped low over the sea stack and Snotlout picked up the lens. At once the Flyers chased him. The Riders and the Flyers chased each other, trying to get the lens. Tenor managed to knock several Flyers off their mounts. Suddenly Re, Aurora, and Darkstalker joined the fight. They also managed to knock off many of the Flyers. One of the Flyers managed to knock the lens out of Snotlout's hand. Luckily Hiccup caught it. He saw one of the Flyers coming at him and tossed it to Dagur. They played Toss the Coin to keep the Flyers from getting the lens. Dagur tossed it to Astrid, who tossed it to Fishlegs, who dropped it down to Snotlout. Snotlout reached up to grab it, but Johann reached up at the same time and knocked Snotlout's hand out of the way. The lens fell towards the water below. Krogen glided by, and grabbed it. He flew off back towards his Flyers.

"I mucked up things yet again," Johann said.

"Of course you did Johann, that's all you ever do," said Snotlout, annoyed.

"They got the lens," said Hiccup.

"But we got Heather and Windshear," said Fishlegs.

"You're right," said Hiccup. "And given the choice, there is no choice." Suddenly Tenor spotted something he didn't like.

"Uh, what's Re doing?" he asked horrified. They looked in time to see Re and Aurora dive bombing the Flyers, and coming at them from behind was Darkstalker. All three attacked the Flyers at once. Re and Aurora killed several Singetails, letting drop into the ocean. They got out of the way as Darkstalker opened his mouth. Everyone watched in horror as Darkstalker engulfed all the Flyers in flames, except Krogen who flew away. Darkstalker burned the remaining Flyers into nothing but ashes and smoke. Then the three dragons went after Krogen who was well out of sight. They all vanished over the horizon.

In shock, the Riders turned around and headed towards the Edge. Tenor flew between Hiccup and Heather.

"That's not the Re I know," Hiccup said.

"Yeah, I have never seen either of them kill another dragon in cold blood," Tenor said. "That's going to give me nightmares forever."

"That was so horrible," said Heather. "I'm glad you haven't turned that dark Tenor."

"Me too," said Tenor. "I really hope Draco puts a stop to it." They all fell silent as they headed home, still processing the terror they'd just seen.

Back on the Edge everyone began to wined down. Snotlout gave the Twins the chicken feed. Tenor waited for the sun to go down, so he could hunt. He was sitting next to the arena, when Hiccup and Astrid walked passed.

"So where's Heather?" Hiccup asked. Tenor looked over at the stables where Dagur was talking to Heather. Suddenly they heard her burst into tears.

"He must have told her," said Hiccup.

"Told her what?" asked Astrid.

"We found Oswald," Hiccup said softly. Astrid understood.

"At least she can put it behind her," she said. They looked back over to see Dagur had Heather her letter. "What's in the letter?"

"Closure," said Hiccup. Heather briefly read the letter, then threw her arms around her brother. Tenor got to his feet.

"I'm heading out," he said. "I'll see you in the morning." He spread his wings and took off.

On another island Re and Aurora were sound asleep under the stars. They had failed to get Krogen, but vowed to find him and destroy him for good. Aurora snuggled closer to her mate. Suddenly the air was filled with an eerie and loud clicking noise. The noise was so loud and penetrating that it entered Re's head. His blue eyes opened and instantly went blank. He raised his head, while Aurora stayed fast asleep. The sound beaconed to him and he got to his feet. He spread his wings and took off, following the sound. He followed it away from the island and out of sight.

A few minuets later Aurora woke up and found Re gone. At once she panicked.

"Re!" she called. She spun around and came face to face with a pair of angry golden eyes. Draco growled.

"Aurora, you have disappointed me," he growled. "Not only have to misused the Mountainback Dragons, but you made them kill innocent dragons in cold blood, and you have turned your back on your most loyal friend."

"Were's Re?" Aurora asked.

"I have arrested him," Draco said sharply. "If you want him back, you must earn it."

"I'm sorry Father," Aurora sobbed.

"Good," said Draco. "But you still have to earn my trust back, only then will Re be set free."

"Yes Father," said Aurora.

"Don't let me down again," Draco said. He then spread his wings and took off. Aurora was left alone and very ashamed. She laid back down but could not go back to sleep. Draco went back to the heavens, devolving into stardust.


End file.
